Now I know that when I feel tempted to lose myself in a relationship, my inner child is yearning for the parental approval she never received. I am her source of validation, not anyone else.

In order to end this cycle of suffering, we must embrace our inner child at whatever age and stage it shows itself to us.

My inner child questions the rules that I have chosen for my recovery. As I grow I am learning to structure rules based on self-respect.

I will not hurry from one task to another. I will allow myself as much time as I need.

and the feisty two-year-old who still waits for the parent who will make them feel safe, loved and accepted.

I accept my friends for who they are. Today I will allow my friends to be themselves. If they make mistakes, that’s okay, they’re human just like me. If they hurt my feelings, we can talk it out. Before I began to recover, I had a hard time keeping friends. The first time they did something I didn’t like I felt betrayed and cut them off. I reasoned

Today I will listen to my inner child. He does not shout to be heard or verbally bully others into submission.

As a child, I believed that I was responsible for the unhappiness of my parents. I thought I needed to live up to their idea of a model child. I spent my days searching for something I could do to make their lives better.

Inside those walls I was safe. So I learned to live inside that tiny, airless, constricted space. I lived within my walls for so long that I forgot the reason for their existence, and even that it was I who had erected them.