Shadé Zahrai

And this is not something that you consciously think.

It just becomes internalized, conditioned into us.

And again, we don't realize just how impactful those early years are.

And we shouldn't hold any grievances towards our parents or our caregivers.

They were doing the best that they could with what they knew.

And they didn't know they were giving us all sorts of insecurities that we develop as adults.

It was just them protecting us.

So that was one example.

We also see another one when children get a little bit older, where you find that your parents will look at your report card and they'll skip over the A's and look at the one C and say, what happened here?

Or why can't you be more like your brother?

Or why haven't you done your homework?

And again, these little things that they say

create these labels that we have.

Oh, I'm not good enough.

A C is not good enough.

I am only worthy if I'm getting straight A's.

Or I must be inferior to my brother or my sibling.

And again, these become these internalized ways that we see ourselves.

Because how do we learn who we are?

It's really through the interactions that we have with the people around us.