I was on TikTok today and I saw an inspirational video that a man posted that said "if you survived the abuse, then you will survive the recovery". And as measly as that quote might've seemed it changed my outlook on so many things. I'm not going to spill out my sob story and invite you all to the pity party but I will say that that simple quote got me out of bed this morning.
I'll be the first to admit that I have a good life now. I'm engaged to a man that supports and provides for me, I have a steady job, we just bought our first apartment in the middle of the city and we're not only content but we're happy. Now I say all this not to brag or to make people who are doing less than to feel as such, but only to point out that it gets better. If someone would've told me five years ago that someone would choose to stay in my life and that I would eventually wake up every morning feeling as if I had a purpose to live then I probably would've laughed at you.
I am not the knower of all and I will never be but I do know that there are people like me who struggled to get up in the morning. To where if felt like depression wrapped you in blankets and begged you to stay in bed, and a smile felt like the hardest thing you could've done that day. Eating might feel like a task because if you eat then you're rewarding your body for staying alive and sometimes you wished the opposite. And that most of the time everyone is so wrapped up in their own lives to begin to bother worrying about yours. Maybe you had an abusive partner, who made you feel like no one else would love you and now you've closed yourself off to everyone because you've been told that you were worthless for so long. Or you might've had an absent parent that made you wonder what you did wrong your entire life. But regardless of what you've gone through we are always told that our body is a temple but this temple has been burned and beaten so long ago by people who thought otherwise.
But despite the odds you still rise every morning. You put on a smile to face your friends and family and when they tell you to smile more you feel like you wish you could do anything but. Whether you be a single mother or a college student who feels like they're on the road to nowhere... You still have some fight left in you!
And if no one told you today then I will, I am so proud of you.
The small things like waking up and getting out of bed gets easier, the smiles will become more real and you will attract more genuine people in your life because you deserve nothing less. You are more than what you've been through, and you will grow through what you go through.
Daily affirmations:
1. It is okay for you to do the best you can at this time.
2. You don't have to be 100% all the time, there will be days that require 50% and it doesnt mean you are failing.
3. Be proud of the progress youve made even if your progress doesn't look like everybody else's.
4. If all you I do today is wake up, then be proud of yourself.
You have suffered enough so be easy on yourself. Know that you are loved always and know that if you were strong enough to survive the abuse then you are strong enough to survive the recovery.
XOXO
-Catherine
