The one lesson I’ve learned from life: Jane Seymour, OBE, on why you can't hang on to the pain of the past
- Actress Jane Seymour OBE is best known as Bond girl in Live And Let Die
- Jane lives in Malibu and has been married and divorced four times
- She says you can't hang on to the pain of the past
Actress Jane Seymour OBE is best known for her Bond girl turn in Live And Let Die and the TV series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, for which she won a Golden Globe. Jane lives in Malibu and has been married and divorced four times. She has a son and daughter with her third husband and twin boys with her fourth husband.
YOU CAN'T HANG ON TO THE PAIN OF THE PAST
During World War II, my mother, a nurse in Indonesia, was captured by Japanese soldiers and spent three-and-a-half years in an internment camp.
When I was growing up, enjoying a lovely, secure childhood with my two sisters in Wimbledon, South-West London, we didn’t know about this time in my mother’s life — we only found out later.
My mother always used to tell us that when something bad happens to you, your natural instinct will be to close off your heart.
Actress Jane Seymour OBE, pictured above, is best known for her Bond girl turn in Live And Let Die and the TV series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, for which she won a Golden Globe
But if you do this and hang on to the experience, it’ll be like a stuck record — the pain will go round and round and you’ll never be able to move on.
However, if you can accept what’s happened and reach out to help someone else (there’s always someone worse off than you), you’ll have a new purpose, which brings love into your life.
You hear about people who get stuck in an old story in their life. Even though I’ve been married and divorced four times, I have a loving relationship with all my former husbands.
I find it sad when people feel they have to hang on to the pain or the betrayals. It’s never easy — I’m certainly not trying to pretend it is — but it is possible to leave the pain of the past behind.
When my heart is especially challenged, I think about a story my mother told me when she was in the camp. She was feeling sorry for herself, but was nursing a lady with a huge wound in her back, who was clearly about to die.
My mother decided not to let her know she was dying and so she became cheerful and talked to the lady about her future and her children as she slipped away.
That moment helped remind my mother that she could make a small difference in this woman’s life and death.
My mother used the story to show me that there’s always someone in a far worse situation than you and that remembering this is the clue to opening your heart.
When you stop feeling sorry for yourself and help someone else, you’ll feel so much better.
See Jane in Hooten & The Lady, available on DVD from RLJ Entertainment’s Acorn Label.
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