I believe that we are all born with an innate drive to be the best we can be in life. There are, however, obstacles along the way and some of us run into more than do others. Our parents, siblings and extended families represent our first exposure to an emotional environment.
The emotional maturity of our parents and their ability to manage the challenges that life throws at them contributes to the degree of chronic anxiety that we carry as individuals throughout our life. And that level of anxiety, to a great degree, is the handicap we carry in the game of life. Most of us are unaware of this until the anxiety gets us into trouble and often the trouble surfaces in a relationship.
When I think of the clients I’ve worked with over the years, the issues they present almost without exception involve a problematic relationship. The key to improving our relationships lies in our ability to see ourselves as part of the problem and to identify and work on the anxiety that we bring to the experience of communicating with others. Counselling can be useful in exploring the origins of anxiety and in addressing ways of managing that anxiety more maturely as we engage in the effort to be the best we can be in life. Change requires patience and determination but if you are up for the challenge you will not be disappointed.
