Imagine carrying a secret for 50 years—a secret that shaped how you saw yourself, your relationships, and the world. A secret you believed was your responsibility to protect, because you thought it meant love, loyalty, and perhaps someday… appreciation.
But what happens when the person who gave you that secret forgets it entirely?
This week, we shared the story of a woman in her 60s who has lived most of her life under the weight of a hidden pain. Her anger was constant, though she couldn’t quite place its root. Medication helped manage her emotions, but never quite explained them. Until she finally looked within.
She had been holding onto a secret her mother asked her to keep when she was just 12. And she waited half a lifetime for her mother to remember, to acknowledge it, to validate the weight she’d carried.
When she finally brought it up, her mother—now in her 80s and living with dementia—just laughed. She didn’t remember. To her, it was nothing. A moment long forgotten.
And so we ask:
- What was the daughter truly angry about all these years?
- Was it the secret… or the unmet expectation that someone else should remember it?
- Can healing happen even when apologies never come?
The Illusion of Memory
Sometimes our deepest pain doesn’t come from the event itself, but from the meaning we attach to it.
We wait for validation. We cling to a narrative. We tie our worth to how others respond—or don’t.
But what if the story you’re carrying is no longer true? What if your suffering isn’t coming from the past, but from the expectation that the past should be different?
Letting Go of Expired Stories
We all hold onto emotional baggage longer than we need to. Stories of betrayal, injustice, fear, or abandonment. But just like expired food in the fridge, old emotional narratives can quietly make us sick.
Letting go doesn’t mean forgetting. It means releasing the hold a story has on your nervous system, your identity, your present moment.
You can ask:
- Is this story still serving me?
- What part of me is still waiting for an apology or acknowledgment?
- Can I set myself free, even if they never say sorry?
A New Way of Being
This is the essence of Intentional Living:
- Living by conscious choice, not emotional reactivity.
- Honoring the life in you, not the illusion others forgot.
- Surrendering control over the past so you can fully meet the now.
Because the truth is, your mind, your body, your spirit—they are too precious to carry expired expectations.
Let it be. Let it go. Let yourself breathe.
Join us in the Intentional Living Program and discover how to:
Break free from outdated narratives that no longer serve you
Heal without needing validation from others
Choose peace over proof and lightness over loyalty to pain
Because healing begins when illusion ends.
With love,
Manna Abraham