It's not surprising that our life experiences stay with us. This is how we learn to survive, how we learn to anticipate danger, how we learn to avoid being hurt. We carry these experiences around with us, knowingly. Or unknowingly - when our mind blocks them out.

And these experiences can influence how we see ourselves, the world and others. This foundation then often informs how we should act or interact with others.

It can be useful for some to reflect on this in therapy.

And for all of us, it can be useful to hold curiosity and compassion towards others about what they may be carrying in their backpack. This doesn't mean we shouldn't hold boundaries, but maybe a little more empathy would make the world a better place
This resource includes a worksheet and the image to download and print.