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The Importance Of Moving On From Past Identities

Author: Christ Bonn
by Christ Bonn
Posted: May 11, 2018

Think of all of the things that you have been over the course of your life. Perhaps you have been a mother, father, daughter or son; maybe you have felt strongly identified with a certain profession, to the point where even after ceasing to work in that field, you have continued to feel that it is central to your being.

This is the phenomenon I am focusing on for today’s blog post: the struggle that many of us facewhen leaving identities that may once have seen us thriving, but which may now be holding us back from evolving and progressing to the next stage of life.

Why Is It So Vital To Move On From What You Once Were?

The truth is, however much we may treasure certain identities or ‘masks’ of ours, there are inevitably times in life when we need to move on from some of them.

You may feel greatly attached to your rebellious and independent childhood, teenage and twenty-something self, only to need to give up that identity when you become a mother or father and no longer have unbridled freedom but, instead, a very real responsibility. Then, as your children grow up and begin to make their own decisions, you will need to surrender some of the ‘mother’ or ‘father’ identity that was so crucial for raising them.

It’s much the same when one changes career: you may once have been a professional sportsperson, but are you so attached to that identity even after retirement from your sport that you are unable to fully embrace the opportunities that lie before you now?

Life Isn’t Predictable And ‘Safe’

This is the overriding message to take away from this blog: life has never been predictableand ‘safe’;it simply wasn’t designed that way.

Life is about embracing new experiences and opportunities to grow, as they come. That necessitates taking on all manner of new identities over time – putting on a certain mask and costume for one stage of growth then leavingthosebehind and adopting a new mask and costume for the next stage.

This is one of the key themes of Life Transition Therapy

  • which I am happy to provide if you are struggling with a transition say in relation to ageing, a career switch, retirement or some other situation in your life.

To learn more contact me, Tamar Posner, by calling 07710 01 99 33 or email info@tamarposner.com

I will leave you with one more of the poems -appropriately enough, written in response to an ancient mask -I have recently composed!

The Mask

I am a bird; I was born to fly.

I have a smile lent mischief

By my peeking tongue,

My eyes convey my passion

But know also how to cry.

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Author: Christ Bonn

Christ Bonn

Member since: Feb 03, 2017
Published articles: 7

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