I am not a victim. I am a survivor.

This is not a sob story about my abuse. This is not a story about how I was abused. This is not a story to make you pity me — the last thing I want is your pity. This is not a story about being a victim. This is a story about becoming a survivor.

There are a million different ways to abuse. Some more severe than others, but none are easier than another to survive. It's been a long road, and I'm still not completely healed, I may never be, but I am stronger than what was done or said to me. I have the ability to grow from it, learn from it and prosper from where everyone thought I would fail — because I am a survivor.

Growing from abuse is probably the hardest part. Having to accept it and look past it is painful but possible. I look at my abuser and I think, "You are sad, pathetic, and obviously you feel inferior because those who feel above do not tear down those below." Part of growing from abuse is having to accept what happened to you. No, it wasn't fair. No, it wasn't okay. No, it's not just something that's happened. It was a serious time in your life. It was a time that you might have feared for you life. But you made it out. Don't waste this time you have left dwelling on the past. Take that pain and make it fuel for you to grow.

I have learned my my abuse. In fact, I could argue that because of the struggles I went through, I have a better appreciation for the love I do feel in my life. I have learned that people do not have to love you, be nice to you, or even care about your well-being. But when they do, never take that for granted. Love is a feeling that should be spread around like candy. There's too much pain in this world to not want to care about one another.

Lastly, abuse made me prosper. If there is one thing in this world that I can thank my abuser for, it's for giving me the strength to prove them wrong. To be able to look at them one day and say that I made it, not because of what they did to be, but because I'm strong enough to move past it. I am capable of prospering. I am not a product of what happened to be, but I am the sum of it, and myself. Feeling pain is natural and necessary to living. After all, how can someone appreciate happiness, love and determination without feeling sadness, hate or pain?

Coming to terms with my abuse has been the hardest thing that I have ever faced. Yet, because of it I am stronger, better and forever learning about who I am.

It is a piece of myself that I am not ashamed of, but rather, very proud to say that I have survived.