Breaking Free: Why Habitually Talking About Your Past Keeps You Trapped In It

Part of Kathy Caprino's series "Finding Brave To Build a Happier Life and Career"

Back in 2018, I was traveling to Virginia to visit my beloved elderly mother (who has now passed) and my sister. I lived far from them and didn't get to see them in person nearly as much as I wished to.

My sister and I did a lot of catching up and talking – about our lives, our families, our current areas of focus and, of course, our challenges. In our discussions, something happened that stopped me in my tracks and made me think long and hard.

I was sharing with my sister a story of an event from my past – when I was 16 years old – that was devastating to me and still angering and hurting me to think of it. I won't share the details of the story but I can tell you that the net effect of the event back then was that, as a young teen, I suddenly and irrevocably felt very alone. I realized that it was not safe for me to share my fears and my grief with this individual because their response and backlash gave me a clear signal that they couldn't handle it unless I was continually demonstrating myself to be strong and capable (and happy).

Their boundaries were such that my fear and grief were too much for them to bear. And their response made my pain and fear feel even worse, and it shut me down from feeling I could be my real self with them. Sadly, that feeling overflowed into how I thought I had to show up in the world at large, for many years. I believed I needed to avoid revealing to people that I felt vulnerable, sad, or that I was struggling in any way. And that is not a healthy or productive way to live.

After sharing that story from the past with my sister, she mentioned that she'd heard me talk about that event many times before.  I hadn't realized how many times I'd repeated it, but clearly it was a LOT. She then offered that, while it was perfectly fine with her to listen to that story as many times as I wanted and needed to tell it, she felt sad for me that the pain of that event was still so alive and "active."

We began discussing how both of us can, at times, delve back into the past and dredge up the hurtful things that happened to us, with very specific detail, as if it happened yesterday. Sometimes we're doing it just because something in our current lives triggered the painful memory. Sometimes we do it as a way to vindicate why we're feeling what we're feeling today. And sometimes we do it, I believe, because the past is absolutely not dead to us –  it lives in a vibrant, active way inside of us and, in many cases, is still coloring much of what we're thinking, feeling and communicating.

I've seen firsthand that our past experiences deeply influence our decisions and relationships as well. This is true of almost everyone I've ever met, coached and worked with. In my years as a therapist, and in close to two decades of career and leadership coaching, I've seen that what happens to us in childhood and early years dramatically shapes us, so much so that if we don't actively address the pain and trauma that we've experienced, it will most likely never be released.

If we don't look it squarely in the face and learn to see it differently, heal, and move beyond it, we will never be free of it.

In fact, I say often, "We are what our childhood taught us to be, unless we've healed it or unlearned it."

As a therapist, I learned too that trauma can occur even in "happy" families, families that seem to have it "all together" and are the envy of the neighborhood, and where there is genuine joy and love.  Children and young people can indeed be traumatized by even one parental remark or event, or one behavior that was crushing and made them feel very sad, alone, scared or rejected. These traumatic events are often burned into our memories and will not let go, unless we actively work to address, heal and release the pain.

The longer I thought about my sister's remarks to me – that I have repeated that one painful story over and over in past years –  I had some very potent realizations about whether or not talking about our past is helpful, or keeping us stuck in a never-ending cycle of pain.

Since that time, I've written the book The Most Powerful You: 7 Bravery-Boosting Paths to Career Bliss, all about what my research working with thousands of professional women across 6 continents has revealed are the 7 most damaging power and confidence gaps that keep us from thriving and reaching our highest potential in both life and work.

One of the most challenging gaps is Gap #7: Allowing the Past (and Past Pain) to Continue to Shape and Define Us. Here's more about that gap and how it hurts us, via my podcast Finding Brave:

Here's what I've seen to be true about talking about the past:

When it's helpful to talk about the past

Sharing a painful story from the distant past can be helpful, but only under one condition – when you endeavor to think differently about it, to be willing to grow beyond it, to learn from it and be positively changed by it, rather than simply repeat it over and over, in the exact same way you originally experienced, without new awareness or growth.

When it's hurtful to keep talking about the past

On the other hand, it's hurtful to keep talking about the past when you're using that story over and over again, in the same way, to vindicate you and to justify your current behavior, to yourself or others.

Talking about the past solidifies the memory that you have of it, and often, that memory morphs over time and changes the whole tone and nature of the event, often in a way that supports the anger and pain you continue to feel.

I don't mean to imply that we consciously try to change history or that we should just glide over what pains us. But we often do revise actual events in our minds (even ever so slightly) so that those events tell a story that's more in line with the pain we're feeling today. In other words, our memories are a reflection of who we are today.

How to grow beyond pain from your past

People often ask me, "How can I let this go, finally? How can I move beyond this painful event that keeps me feeling devastated?"

I'm a career and leadership coach and consultant with a therapeutic lens, and professionals very frequently (every day, in fact) share with me information and situations regarding their current career pain and challenges. More often than you'd imagine, it's clear that the kind of hurt they're experiencing today in their work or career is directly correlated to the same type of pain they experienced in their past and childhoods.

In other words, often what they experienced in their early years in their family and school life is being relived emotionally over and over in their current professional lives and roles.

I experienced this firsthand as well, in my 18-year corporate life.

There are many ways to heal (including seeking expert therapeutic support), but I've found that one of the most potent ways to start is first growing in your willingness to let this pain go, to stop blaming other people involved, and for you yourself to become someone different – one who is stronger, more resilient, more authoritative and capable of running your own life in successful ways.

Often we don't want to relinquish the painful memory because doing so might feel like a betrayal – to our hurt self that was so damaged at the time by the event. But suppose we can see the bigger picture, and understand that we are NOT that person any longer, that we have a greater capacity for strength, compassion, resilience, growth, positive power and influence. In that case, we can understand that we're not betraying our younger self, but honoring our expanding capacity for growth and happiness.

The more we can be willing to finally let go of the blame and the pain, the more we open the door to become the person we really wish we were – strong, capable, joyful, loving, compassionate and forgiving.

I'm pretty sure that our younger, more vulnerable self would want that for us – to not stay stuck in the cycle of blame and pain but be willing to learn and grow from past hurts and thrive beyond them.

For hands-on help to close your power and confidence gaps and release pain from past experiences, read The Most Powerful You, work with Kathy, and take her 8-week course The Most Powerful You. For weekly inspiration, tune into her podcast Finding Brave. For private, one-on-one support, join Kathy in her Career & Leadership Breakthrough coaching program. And to support your workforce, invite Kathy to speak at your next career and leadership growth event.

For additional career and leadership help, assessments, training and more, visit Kathy's Career Help page.

Finally, to find a therapeutic support provider who may be of help, check out The American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.