The best gift that I have given myself throughout the last 14 months is therapy.
When I struggled to know what to do next, I could see my counselor and she would guide me into figuring out what was best for me.
The only directives that I remember her giving me were 1) go get tested for every STD under the sun–BLECH! That was terrible to consider!, 2) find 2-3 close friends who can walk this out with you, and 3) find a support group of women who are walking similar paths that will understand where you are coming from emotionally. That was just on day 1.
Side Note-{Shout-out to pastors! A pastor friend gave me the same exact first 2 instructions as well. (Pastors-GO get the latest training so that you are ready to help people in crisis…in the beginning, when I didn’t have all the information and was incredibly overwhelmed, the very first person I wanted advice from was my pastor. I immediately wanted to know how to walk this out as a Christian woman. I did not want to mess this up.)}
Anyway, consistent counseling has helped me figure out my path forward, it has helped me see other perspectives, and it has provided me with the safest of places to come and grow.
Yes. I have walked to hell and back. Yes. I have been dealt a raw deal. Yes. What I’ve experienced stinks. But I needed to learn to look at all of that and grow from it so that I didn’t live as a bruised and battered woman or as a bitter and angry woman or as a woman destined to repeat the same patterns.
Today, I am here to tell you that it has been STINKIN’ HARD!! But oh, so very worth it!
Of course, I continue to need a lot of work but I want you to know that the most wonderful gift you can give yourself is being open enough to to become your best self…and for me that was my counselor who encouraged me to consider more than just my one-sided perspective but also learn to TRUST MYSELF.
Loella Reina 