It’s been exactly a year since I began my healing journey. It's been a long ride with lots of twists, turns, and growth, and guess what? I am excited to introduce you to the final pages of the Traumatic Breakup chapter of my story! I can write this from a place of forgiveness and acceptance because I was able to truly move on. The traumatic aspect of the breakup At the end of our relationship, I blamed myself. I have an incredibly big heart, and I gave every ounce of love, respect, and kindness I had to my ex. If you’d read my journals through those three years, even if I was mad at him, ...
ptsd
7 Ways to Help a Friend in Need
We’ve all been there. A friend calls us crying or sends eight paragraph-length texts in a row. Of course, we’re immediately concerned. We want to help and make them feel better in any way we can. Sometimes that backfires because we go into problem-solving mode and unintentionally invalidate our friend. No one wants their friends or loved ones to be upset. I know I become a protective mother hen when someone I love is sad or angry. It’s easy for me to take on their feelings and become just as riled up as they are. That’s not helpful, though. It’s taken a few years to really perfect being a ...
Your Weekly Dose of Gratitude
It’s that time again. Sunday! Let’s get started making next week the best week ever. I’m thinking of fireworks, rainbows, and a parade of happy dogs! Maybe my expectations are set a bit high, but the heart wants what it wants. My favorite part of this week… had to be having a dance party all by myself in my bedroom on Friday night. Being unable to go out dancing has finally gotten on my nerves. Dancing is not something I do well, but dammit if it isn’t entertaining for me and everyone around me. It was nice to just wiggle everything out. I’ve been working really hard on some upcoming things ...
Weekly Affirmation 2
Happy Sunday! Ready to start this next week with positive intentions, self-compassion, and love? Good, I am, too! Let’s start with gratitude for this past week. One good thing that happened to me this week… I got in contact with an old friend from Fort Walton Beach. He and I fell out of touch when I moved to Guam because I stopped using social media for my own well-being. I really hated how it made me feel. It was nice to spend an hour catching up and congratulating each other’s progress and listening to each other’s problems. It’s always nice to have a good heart to heart. This week I ...
Finding my power and purpose
My life changed this past 4th of July weekend. Last year I was waiting for my fiancé to come home and worrying about fireworks triggering my PTSD. This year, I was single, living with my parents, and devising an impulsive plot to take my life because I couldn't handle reality any longer. What a difference a year makes. Luckily, I wasn't successful in my suicide attempt. Instead, I gained perspective and learned much-needed life lessons. Before, I felt I had little going for me aside from the prospect of marriage. I was so excited and built my whole world around it. Here's ...
My new milestones
During my trip to the Bahamas, I dug deep and figured out what was important to me. I felt left behind in life's Important Milestones: going to college directly after high school, finding a career, finding a spouse, starting a family, and so on and so forth. I became unhappy and discouraged with my life. I felt like I was doing something wrong, and that I'd never catch up. During and after college, I scrolled through many friends, acquaintances, and strangers flashing their engagement rings with their fiancé looking adoringly at them. It was a daily occurrence of seeing other lives ...
