When people hit their sixties, there's this assumption that life becomes less flexible, that routines become rigid out of necessity rather than choice. But here's what I've learned from watching the most mentally resilient older adults around me: those who genuinely enjoy their daily rhythms aren't stuck in their ways. They're actually displaying something remarkable. Psychology research suggests that finding comfort in your own routines after 60 isn't about being inflexible or resistant to change.
Emotional validation happens when your parents see what you are feeling, acknowledge your feelings, and seem to understand why you are having them. Just like adults, children's feelings are the deepest, most personal, biological expression of who they are. In order to feel seen, understood, and heard, a child must feel that their feelings are seen, understood, and heard. What happens when you feel seen, understood, and heard as a child?