The Difference Between Shared Wounds and Shared Growth

We are allowed to work on ourselves, realize that we have things we need to work on related to our upbringing, while also setting boundaries with those around us who may not be on their own journeys of healing and self-awareness. So, just because we recognize our own areas of growth doesn’t mean we have to tolerate unhealthy behaviors from others who refuse to do the same. We can hold space for our own evolution while refusing to be enmeshed in cycles of dysfunction that others are unwilling to break, where our growth doesn’t mean self-sacrifice; it means discernment—knowing when to engage, when to step back, and when to walk away entirely for the sake of our own well-being. And sometimes, even when two people are working on themselves, aware of their own upbringing and their generational trauma, they come from such similar backgrounds that they each have the same dysfunction at their core that they’re working on, and the boundaries they set for themselves basically mirror each ot...