Sometimes it’s easy to imagine that we’re the only ones experiencing certain challenges and that everyone else is coping fine with the things we struggle with. That might be the case of course, but I think it’s probably far more likely that others are experiencing some of the challenges you are, and that most of us have struggles.
Last night we finished watching The Crown on Netflix, which documents the British royal family from 1947 to 1955. It’s one of those shows that I’ve known about for ages but didn’t think it would be the sort of thing we (“my husband and I” ?) would enjoy. How wrong I was; we both really enjoyed watching it. Admittedly, it’s dramatised so I don’t know how much the smaller storylines reflect the truth, but I believe some of the royal family have watched the show and can relate to it.
I particularly appreciated the focus of the episodes and how they are based around challenges many of us can relate to – things like our identity, family values, love and marriage, friendships (and how they are perceived by others), building trust, negotiating needs, being assertive, juggling different priorities, pursuing passions, and education (including feeling like we don’t know enough about something). These are all struggles I’ve experienced at times, and it’s reassuring to remember that this is something pretty much all of us experience at times, even the Queen!
So what can we take from this? Well, I have certainly taken some reassurance that it’s normal to experience these internal struggles, whatever they may be, and that although the specific situations are likely to be different the core of the struggle is something we can probably relate to. As a natural extension to this, talk about things if it helps you to. Those who love you may well be able to relate to the issues you’re experiencing, and may have advice (and if not, I’m sure they’ll offer a safe space for you to discuss things). Like Bob Hoskins said, “Its good to talk” (though let’s just hope you don’t have to rely on BT to facilitate any conversations given their record for reliability!).
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