Our lives are like vividly written books, one chapter after another chronicling every detail of our existence into a fictitious narrative with an unforeseeable ending. For some people, these chapters contain details that would provide an enjoyable reading experience to anyone who chose to indulge themselves.

For the purpose of this blog post, we’ll call these chapters “bright” chapters. Alternatively, there are those whose chapters contain details that would unconsciously persuade the reader to close it shut and never pick it up again. We will call these chapters “dark” chapters. It is in these “dark” chapters that we are constantly reminded of places and situations we would much rather forget. But it is also in these chapters where we have the potential to discover the true meaning of survival.

It is my goal to help you discover your survival potential as I recount my healing journey. As I walk you through each chapter of my journey, let the details be an illustration to the testament of how I progressed beyond some “dark” chapters in my life. This will hopefully help you progress through yours as well. Now I cannot write this blog post without acknowledging one fact: many who read this may feel as though they have experienced (or are experiencing) a significantly more number of “dark” chapters in their life compared to what I experienced. That may very well be the case. Please know it is not my intention to minimize the unspeakable acts you may have endured at the hands of someone else. Contrarily, I only write to provide a genuine paradigm of healing and a platform for support.

You may have feelings of fear, isolation, anguish, guilt, and confusion, loss of control, vulnerability or distrust. By sharing these feelings, emotions and thoughts we can walk this road of renewal together. It is my hope that I am able to speak to the hearts and minds of all victims and survivors: women and men, young and old. Although we all have different chapters that make up our books, we remain undivided by one fact: we are victims of sexual abuse. This common trait not only unites us but simultaneously provides the perfect avenue for us to heal together. The absence of a pillar for support can cause an ongoing feeling of loneliness. Therefore, I challenge you to be willing and open to let this be your forum for sharing, strength and peace.

Becoming a survivor is a work in progress...keep going.

The journey of healing is a sustained process with an outcome directly dependent on the work that goes into the process. With this being said, every day can be a day of healing. Together, we will strive towards building an inner peace grounded in optimism instead of depression, courage instead of fear and elation instead of embarrassment. Equally important though, we will strive for reaching a state of consciousness in which our minds and hearts can embrace forgiveness. Ultimately, it is only at the core of forgiveness that healing can genuinely take place. Yes, this will undoubtedly be a difficult task but as you will learn, it is a necessary one.

All things considered, we cannot control our past. And for some, you may feel powerless to even control your existing circumstances. Either way, our past (or our present) does not define us. Nor do we have to be reduced to it.

This certainty should be encouraging to all who may read this. So let’s navigate this road to renewal together where we can one day enter a sanctum of healing. When this occurs we can put an end to others writing the chapters of our books and instead, begin writing our own chapters.