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Existing is Still Strength
We put so much pressure on ourselves. We look around at other people and how together they seem to have it. We take this knowledge and look at our own lives which our minds ruthlessly critique every moment of the day. We are hard on ourselves for areas we think we are failing in. For ways we think we should be succeeding. For not meeting these societally constructed milestones we feel we should meet to have approval. For those who have been through abuse, trauma and significant loss just making it through the day seems like a lot. It feels like there is so much pressure to get it together and heal. To become a version of you that makes other people more comfortable and even makes you more comfortable. When life has been so hard that you have crumbled, when your soul has taken a beating and your heart aches, please know that just existing is still strength.
I made this response to a comment on another piece I wrote and then continued to think about it for the rest of the day. How hard I have been on myself in the past for just existing and feeling as though I’m not where I should be, when I should have been rejoicing in my strength in that moment. I have been in some awful situations where people have treated me badly but the person who is most unkind to myself is me. A few things lately have made me realise this. I have been more open and vulnerable in my life than ever before since I began to…
