“But, I had a perfect childhood,” I hear for the thousandth time.

Yet, right before me – in full-blown technicolor – are the obvious behavioral and emotional signs that something went awry.

Show me the thumbprint. I guarantee you there was a thumb.

“That’s interesting,” I muster, trying to hide my screaming disbelief. I have been to this rodeo so many times; I am well-practiced.

“I have never heard of someone having a ‘perfect’ childhood. Tell me more.”

And so goes the initial archeological dig into the inescapable human experience of the person sitting before me.

I can’t say I blame them. Who wants to change the perception of how their life has gone? Who wants to know the deep and dark content lurking inside? I get that.

Yet, reality screams. The consequences of denial are a hurting life at worst, a limited life at best. Because the truth that life is imperfect always wins out. No one escapes the full-range of life’s offerings. Joy and pain. Gain and loss. Love and hate. Gift and disappointment. We bought the ticket and strapped on the seatbelt. We were in it for the full ride. There was no turning back.

So, time to raise the white flag and surrender to the brutal truth … our childhood may have been good enough or even wonderful, but it was far from perfect.

Now, we are talking.
Let the healing begin.

For the rise of your life …