growing up was like a roller coaster. at times it was great. and at the lowest, we had to go around collecting cans just to be able to eat. through all of it, our family is really close. always with my cousins...friends were like family. sports was major in my life - still is - its what keeps me grounded. its what i know and love, and what i grew up with. it was my outlet instead of getting into bad shit. i was a bad kid though...i did attempt to burn down a garage...i did break into a trucking companies parking lot multiple times to take the fire extinguishers...i did steal sports cards...etc but i turned out alright. my parents did push sports on me. and i don't regret one minute of it. my mom definitely encouraged us to learn learn learn. find a passion and go with it. so growing up, i love the aquarium, and love learning about life in the water. i grew up wanting to be a marine biologist. i did work at the aquarium for 2 years. but since i was always encouraged to learn, i ventured to something else and i'm at a totally different place now. i was swimming at 4 months old - well, not really swimming, but i was in the pool at that age. no wonder why thats where i feel the most comfortable and calm when angry. took lessons, swam competitively and i still do. finished my last year of collegiate eligibility for swimming this year. played many other sports - soccer, baseball, basketball, track and field, football, boxing and TKD...and now rugby. its ingrained in who i am, and i have my parents to thank for that. my dad was my soccer coach along with my mom at times, so was my best friends dad - he coached with my dad. my parents were always at my sister and my swim meets and soccer matches. they tried making everythign they could. they still made it to my swim meets this year, even driving the 3 hrs up to VT just to watch me swim 2-3 events. thats the support i had growing up and you know, its great to have that support now, still. my parents worked hard. dad worked 2 jobs...my mom volunteered a lot. at times it was tough just making ends meet. but they pushed through. there were some really harsh moments growing up, which i still have a hard time dealing with because my mind has blocked a lot of it out. my sister was raped, on many occasions by our babysitter. its taking a long time for me to finally accept that i was not repsonsible for that happening. i blamed myself for allowing it to happen. i was only 10. theres parts of my childhood i don't remember because of that. i didn't actually start remembering until a few years ago, where i just internalized it. over the years, with going to therapy and talking with my family, things have gotten easier. but i still have a rough time. but i'm glad i have that support from my family. so it definitely was and sitll is a very nurturing environment. i mean, just watching my parents with my nephew shows me that in a way i never really appreciated till now. i made plenty of mistakes because i was allowed that freedom, but in the end, i had that support even if i didn't use it for a long time. i think i answered the question...and rambled on enough...
My childhood was kinda fucked up, that's probably why Im kinda insane, though I think it's easy for me to say, "ohh, Im this way, because of this and that". We cant be holding on to the bad things, even when they make up such a big part of who we are. I love my family, with all its bad things and there's no resentment for anything, there used to be a lot of it, but I've let go of all of that
I love my family. Especially my parents. They did everything they could to make sure me and my sister have a normal childhood. And we did have a somewhat normal childhood, given the circumstances.
I hate it when people use their childhood as an excuse. Someone had a terrible childhood, so what? Boo hoo. Get over it. And make it on your own. This was just a general opinion, it wasnt directed towards anyone particular. Just saying...
What ? I wasnt talking about you. I meant in general. I could blame my childhood for a lot of things, but there's no point in looking back.
My young years were wonderful. At least, that's how I look at them. I dont know if my family can be labled as stable or normal, but then again I've never been introduced to one that is, and I tend to believe that there is no such thing. There's stable in the sense of how much money a family has, but as for how families treat each other I dont think any of them are perfect. I know that we've all had our share of bad times, and surely some of us have more than others. I dont exactly care to share mine in details with everyone and I dont really want to reflect on the troubles I've endured, I do that when I drinking and listening to the blues :tongue: But the moments of revelation, of discovery of Mother Nature's mechanics, and overall natural sense of joy I had in moments of just simply being alive and appreciating that God was allowing me to, will always outweigh the negative memories. Remembering when my happy moments as a child is something I do quite often as Im sure most of you do, and would never change a moment of anything. As for the troubles, really all they did for me was show me that being alive means work, and I feel that they moulded me into a good father. And I guess that's more than enough.
Im really excited to start my own family one day. Im going to be a really great mom, its what I want to do.
That is the most ignorant thing I have heard in my life, especially coming out of a med student. Do you realize what effect childhood trauma can have during that stage of development? It's tremendous, ridiculously tremendous. I don't think you realize how traumatic some people's childhoods are, and how it has affected them. I do agree that people should get over it, but I don't think that you could possibly fathom how hard it is to do so. I'm sure that your childhood wasn't that bad, otherwise you wouldn't even consider making such an IDIOTIC statement.
Me too! I've been feeling all maternal lately...I get like that sometimes. But I want to wait at least another 10 years, if not 15. I was fortunate to have had an incredibly positive childhood. It was a bit sheltered, but I'm kind of glad that it was, because you have the rest of your life to get corrupted, why start in childhood? I think I'm mostly a product of my environment, and my past of course. But personality has a role in terms of how you interpret what happens to you in life. I've always tried to see the good within the bad, the beauty within the pain. I can't imagine living with any other perspective, since it's this belief which has gotten me through everything thus far. I certainly have a cynical streak, but really, I'm an eternal optimist.
Okay. I'm sorry, I havent really explained it in my post well. I meant terrible childhood as in : One parent is absent, divorced parents and such things. Excuse me, but these things cannot possibly be used as an excuse later on in life. Now if we're talkin about more serious things, like molesting, or whatever might have caused a severe trauma, then yes, these things will probably have serious consequences and cause problems later. My childhood wasnt that bad indeed.
