As a family, we were talking the other day about childhood memories – how they stay with you, good or bad – and the part those memories can play in your life for many years later.

I remember a particular day when I was a small child, maybe 8 or 9 years old… a carpenter who was a friend of the family was doing some renovations in our home. He was busy working and I was whistling nearby – I was happy. He made an abrupt comment asking me to stop and I could feel he was grumpy. I never knew if I was whistling too loud, or perhaps out of tune, but I stopped, and unsure of how I felt I just walked away.

CARRYING OUR CHILDHOOD HURTS

But in my mind I have never forgotten this – I have carried this memory for fifty years. It isn’t something that haunts me every day but I am often reminded of it whenever I hear someone whistling. I have felt self-conscious of how I have sounded for all these years, but today I feel free – free to express myself – and I sometimes wonder why it has taken me this long!

TAKING ON SOMETHING THAT ISN’T OURS TO TAKE ON IN THE FIRST PLACE

I can now look deeper into that childhood memory and see more clearly, from a new perspective, the pattern that formed from this experience. It was something I took on for many years that may have had nothing to do with me – it was something another person was feeling over which I had no control. He may have had a headache; he could have hit his finger with the hammer or perhaps drilled a hole in the wrong place and could have been feeling frustrated… who knows?! But I had always thought it was my whistling that was the problem (perhaps it was, but the point is it doesn’t even matter!).

WE ARE ALL AMAZING AND UNIQUE

Now when I whistle, I just smile to myself and I think of my beautiful daughter. She has been inspired by the work of Serge Benhayon, has been attending Universal Medicine events for the last 3 years, and through what she has connected to she has helped me to realise for myself just how amazing and unique we all are, and how acceptance and appreciation are our valuable tools in life. She has inspired me to stop and appreciate what may be happening in someone else’s day, and that there is no need to take offence in a situation or take things personally. I have now been able to let go of this negative childhood memory and allow myself to express freely again.

By M.H, 60, Brisbane