Photo by Reuben Juarez on Unsplash
My story is my strength.
For the longest time, I wanted to believe that I am stronger than my story. I needed to believe that my story did not define me or my future. However, after battling depression, anxiety, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) throughout most of my 19-years of life, I learned that my story does define me in several ways.
I have struggled and continue to struggle to find my spoken voice. Advocating for myself verbally is something that has always been challenging for me because I was raised in a way that made me believe that my voice did not matter. Whenever I would attempt to use the voice that I had, it would be silenced. This taught me that my opinions, beliefs, and values were something to be ashamed of.
Ultimately, I was the extension of my mother. Without adopting her beliefs and ways as my own, I would not have been able to survive the past eighteen years. Her person became my person, slowly destroying any unique identity that my person had desired to form throughout the years. As a now 19-year-old college student, I am left to pick up the broken pieces and somehow discover the person I have always been called to be while finding my voice along the way, a journey that has proven very difficult thus far.
A Path to Healing
Despite being difficult, the journey has been worth it. It became worth it when I started to accept that I have a story that is my strength. For a writer, that is everything. For a person, it is the path to healing.
Healing, for me, is recognizing that although your story defines your beginning, it does not have to define your ending. Use the past to make the future better. Take the passions, interests, and hobbies you have and turn the past chapters of your story into something great. Creative ways to do this include writing a novel, speech, poetry, painting, filming, and so many others. The possibilities are limitless! Choose to make your story your strength. By doing so, you can be the difference this world needs. You are stronger than you believe- you and your story that is!
