reparation

Though our childhood abuse left us feeling someone ought to make reparation to us, if we wait a lifetime for that, we may never receive what we need. We choose instead to face the idea that from now on, we are going to take responsibility for caring for ourselves.

It__ crucial to practice self-empathy, for trust can__ be willed into existence. That didn__ work when our caregivers tried to impose their will on us, and it won__ work internally, either. Only when we can tap into a place of self-trust, with a reliable process of reparation for inevitable mistakes, can we build trust with another person.