Very often in consultations with children I come across the following request: “We constantly argue with our parents. They don't understand me! They are not happy with me - that means they don’t love me!” Often these are children whose parents lead a chaotic lifestyle, or are constantly at work and do not pay attention to their offspring at all, or accidentally let it slip that they did not plan and did not want their child. Such children are firmly convinced that their parents do not love them, because they have PROOF. But it happens that such phrases are “thrown” by children even from complete, prosperous families. Of course, the unloved child suffers greatly. After all, the love of parents is the basis for the safety of a child. We – adults – understand that this happens. It happens that parents really don’t love their children. But (maybe I’m just so lucky and I haven’t met them) there aren’t many of them. Most parents, of course, love, but they simply do not know how to show their love and pay little attention due to their abilities and life circumstances. If a child comes to us with such a request, we must somehow return him to a sense of security through parental love, i.e. we must explain, show, prove to the child the opposite - that his parents still LOVE him! Rational methods of psychotherapy are, of course, powerless here, but METAPHOR is what is needed. Space...Great, all-encompassing, powerful, mysterious... There are so many questions in it, but so many answers! Consider our solar system. In the center is a huge star - the Sun. Thanks to the light and heat that this star spreads, 8 main planets were formed: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. If there were no Sun, there would be no planets. In this case, one could compare the Sun with parents, and the warmth emanating from it with parental love. Let's look at the planets themselves. The closest planet to the Sun is Mercury. She is the smallest and the fastest. But there is no life on Mercury - neither plant nor animal. Maybe just because it is closest to the Sun and it is too hot on its surface? The planet farthest from the Sun is Neptune. It has the strongest winds among the planets in the solar system, and most of its surface is covered with ice. There is also no life on Neptune. Maybe because it is so far from the Sun? The only planet on which there is life is our Earth, it is in orbit 3. Apparently, in order for life to arise, you need to be at the optimal distance from the Sun, not too close and not too far. Now let’s remember that the Sun is parents. If you are constantly near your parents, they can “incinerate” you with their love, and if you do not maintain contact with them at all, do not communicate, do not listen to advice, you will constantly feel emptiness and coldness in your heart. Try to determine the right orbit for yourself so that Life appears on your planet. Why is there winter on Earth, just as in the relationship between parents and children it happens that cold times come? Has the sun stopped giving the Earth its warmth? Of course not. The energy that comes from the Sun is always constant. It’s just that the Earth itself turned the other side towards her. Nature has thought through everything to the smallest detail, and therefore all the planets of the solar system are not static, they move in orbits around the Sun, as well as around their own axis. When relationships with parents become tense, this does not mean that your parents suddenly stopped loving you. It is possible that you yourself “turned away” from them. Parental love, like the warmth of the Sun, is constant and unchanging. It all depends on which side you're facing.