Resonated deeply with the talk around patterns and feeling overly anxious around how I express myself in connections. I see myself in the idea of feeling like I have to control whether that person will leave or be interested in me, and feeling like it’s my responsibility to manage or fix. The more I connect to my inner child, the more I see a deeper need to be accepted for who I am and internalize that I’m enough in my authentic expression, regardless of the outcome. Super helpful to understand it as my way of trying to ease that tension of feeling not enough by eliciting a response from someone else. A big takeaway from today is that it’s important in those moments to connect to the emotions of that little me, recognize and accept that there’s a fear of abandonment or rejection, and allow that acknowledgement to free up my expression - to accept that it simply isn’t my fault or responsibility whether someone is interested in me or receptive to me when expressing myself authentically. That I’m enough whether someone resonates with me or not, including all of those fears or patterns. I’m becoming more aware of just how much that little boy in me was trying so hard to get his dad to love him, and still feels like he has to do everything right to earn love from others. 💖