This is personal. I never expected to share it, but here we are.
I never got the chance to be a kid. We moved 27 times before I was 11 years old. We lived in poverty and financial instability, which led to chaos, confusion, and social isolation among other things.
There were kind people along the way. People who tried to help. But as the saying goes, “it takes a village” — and all the villages we lived in had their own troubles; they didn’t have the resources to focus on ours.
I’ve come to understand that tne gift that hardship carries is resilience. Either you adapt and learn to survive. . . or you die. It’s obvious which path led me here.
Resilience overcomes obstacles
As a child, I never got the chance:
— to form lasting friendships
— to experience safety
— to learn social skills
— to enjoy the luxury of simply being a child and having fun
This is what poverty and incest will do to a child. This, and some poor parenting skills (mostly from my father; my mom was the glue that held us all together.)
But that was my story then.
Every day I get to write a new one. And so do you.
And I gotta tell you. . . it’s never too late to have the experiences you missed. I’m not a psychologist and wouldn’t dare suggest that I wasn’t affected by these things. I was. Deeply so. Some excellent therapy helped me grow out of those dark places.
And. . . that’s not the end of the story.
It was simply the opening chapter.
Since then, I’ve had the wonderful experience of knowing what a real father is like. My stepdad Roger was my hero, because in the short time we had him (he sadly passed too soon) his love and kindness and wisdom truly healed darn near every “father wound” I had. I am so blessed for this.
I’ve had some amazing and effective therapy, that went a long way towards healing everything else. There, too, I’m so blessed.
Sobriety showed me how to live — with myself, and with others — and to have a productive and satisfying life.
Animal companions opened my heart, and allowed me to trust Love again.
After many “false starts” I’ve found the life companion my soul had always known would be there. We share a deep, affectionate, passionate, and respectful life together, filled with love, laughter, adventure and growth. I am truly blessed for this.
Look. Everyone has an inner child. Some of us had an easier time growing up than others did — but even so, it’s never too late to heal your inner child ~ heal your traumas ~ and replace early memories with new, happy, healthy ones.
It’s truly possible. I’ve done it, and so have countless others.
Healed Survivors nurture their inner children
I’m so blessed I got to do this. This makes me, I’d say, a healed survivor. We’re a tribe — and growing all the time. If you identify, I invite you to join me — and see how we can lead the world to a better place. For our inner children. For the ones to come. Until there is nothing left to heal.
Please share and connect.