Our parents may be the cause of our suffering, yet they are above all the cause of our very existence. Whether we like it or not, this fact complicates our relationship with them. On the one hand, having been born into a difficult world can be a source of great anxiety for our parents, who have nonetheless assumed responsibility for these circumstances. On the other hand, it is not until quite late in life that we realize what our parents did for us, even if we hadn’t asked them to.
Faced with this debt created by the simple fact of existing, which no doubt can be erased with a stroke of the pen when our living conditions are nothing but toil and suffering, that is to say, childhood does not rhyme with carelessness. Let’s take an interest in the case of those who realize a little late the debt they unconsciously owe.
At first glance, as a child, we should not be indebted to anything, we did not ask to be born, it is the fruit of our parents’ will alone. However, it is a gift that cannot be refused, and like any accepted gift, it creates a possible manipulation of the giver, or at least it often unconsciously creates a compensation mechanism in the recipient. Although this mechanism is not obvious at first glance, it is nevertheless at work. This often explains why, after having lived in total contradiction with our parents, we often end up, by force of circumstance, “settling down” and finally following their path in our old age. The same goes for the choice to be a parent in turn: we choose to be the creditor of a debt that we know is difficult or simply impossible to repay. Therefore, even if we are aware that the life we have been given cannot be repaid, we are content to do the same by giving life, which seems to be the most reasonable way to do so.
