EP 419: How to Find Yourself Again After Your Children Are Grown with Julia

<p dir="ltr">This coaching call is about the motherhood transition and finding your identity. Today’s caller, Julia, has children leaving the nest. She is unsure what comes next for her. She asks Christine for guidance about what she can do to discover who she is.</p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">[For show notes, go here: <a href= "http://christinehassler.com/episode419">Christinehassler.com/episode419</a>].</p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">The earlier in life we have children the less time we have to work on our own inner child. Part of why we hang on to moments with our kids is because our inner child may not have had it. The more we have a connection to our own inner child and our sense of play and magic the less we need children around us to give us that. So much of what mothers miss from children is the sense of unconditional love and joy.</p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">One of the things our culture is not great with is grief and letting it be okay that we are grieving. And, when we don’t complete a cycle with ritual and intention it still lingers. A part of us is always in the past. We always have nostalgia and it makes it harder to step into our next phase.</p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Often, we try to redo our childhood through parenthood. We’re trying to give our children the life that we didn’t have and it is beautiful that we want to do better. But what can happen is we become so involved in our child’s life and become so immersed in parenthood, particularly motherhood, that we neglect our own inner child.</p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">It’s a delicate balance to mother others while mothering ourselves. Remember not to neglect your inner child by putting everything you have into your children. It is important we parent our inner child as well.</p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Consider/Ask Yourself:</p> <ul> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Are you at an age in life where you are trying to get excited about