The Healing You Didn’t Know You Needed: Welcoming Back Your Forgotten Parts

Today I want to talk about something most of us don’t even realize we need: the healing we didn’t know we needed. What does that mean?

Many of us go through life believing we’ve already handled the hard stuff. We’ve survived. We’ve pushed through. We’ve learned to function, perform, and keep moving. And so we convince ourselves: “I’m fine.”

But beneath the surface, there are parts of us we’ve quietly pushed aside—old wounds, unmet needs, or memories we decided were too painful, too messy, too much. And here’s the truth: those parts don’t just disappear. They wait. They whisper. They show up as emptiness that no success can fill… as restlessness no distraction can quiet… as an ache that says, “Something is missing.”

When I Realized I Wasn’t Whole

I remember a season in my life when I thought I was holding it all together. On the outside, people saw responsibility, strength, even success. But inside, I was fractured. I had silenced so many parts of myself that I no longer recognized who I was.

The healing I needed wasn’t out there somewhere in another accomplishment or in proving myself again. It was in turning toward the parts of me I had abandoned. The ones I thought didn’t deserve love. That’s when I began to understand: healing isn’t about fixing yourself or becoming someone new. It’s about welcoming back your forgotten parts—the pieces of you that have been longing to come home.

The Forgotten Parts of Ourselves

So what are these “forgotten parts”?

• The little girl who was told she was too much, too loud, too sensitive.

• The teenager who decided it was safer to be perfect than to be real.

• The woman who put her own needs aside because she thought love had to be earned.

Over time, we exile these parts of ourselves. We bury the sadness. We numb the anger. We silence the longing. On the outside, we function. We look strong. But on the inside, it feels like something is missing.

Maybe you’ve felt it too:

• Restlessness that no amount of achievement satisfies.

• Emptiness even in a room full of people.

• Joy that slips away because you sabotage it before it can take root.

This isn’t proof that you’re broken. It’s proof that a part of you is still waiting to be seen.

A House with Locked Rooms

Imagine your life as a house. You live in the rooms everyone can see—the kitchen, the living room, the office. But there are other rooms too: the basement, the attic, the locked bedrooms you haven’t entered in years.

The energy in those rooms still shapes the whole house. You can feel the drafts. You sense the weight behind the doors. The only way to truly heal the house is to open the doors, bring in light, and welcome those spaces back into the whole.

That’s exactly what happens when you begin to welcome back your forgotten parts.

The Gifts Hidden in the Shadows

Here’s the shift: the parts you’ve avoided aren’t here to destroy you. They’re here to guide you.

• Anger reveals where your boundaries were crossed.

• Sadness shows you what you loved and lost.

• Shame points to where connection was severed, where you learned to hide.

These emotions aren’t weaknesses. They are doorways to truth. When I finally stopped running from them, they became the way back home.

A Gentle Practice

I’d love to give you a simple reflection right now. Place your hand on your heart and whisper to yourself:

“You belong here. I see you. I welcome you home.”

Even the smallest exhale of relief, the tiniest softening in your chest—that’s the beginning of healing.

The Healing You Didn’t Know You Needed

The healing you may not even realize you need won’t come from doing more, striving harder, or proving yourself again. It comes from remembering. From opening the door to the parts of you that have been waiting in the shadows. From saying yes to your own wholeness.

You were never broken. You were always whole. And now is the time to live from that truth.