In an exclusive extract from his upcoming piece in Dialogue, 7/7 bombings veteran Brett Lovegrove says all experiences shape who you are
You shouldn’t try to dispense with the bad parts of your psychological makeup. With introspection, you can get to a point where you know why you are the way you are, even though you may not be particularly proud of it.
If you shed the psychological baggage you will never be able to use it as a reference point. You need to be able to say, “that’s not a great part of my persona.”
Be aware of it – if you got rid of those pillars of awfulness, you wouldn’t be you. You would be knocking out one of the mainstays of who you are.
So understand your downsides, but don’t rely on them. Identify and rely on the good stuff.