Learningtolovemyself

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Dear Me, I’m Still Trying. And That’s Enough.

Dear Little Me,

If you’re reading this, it means we’ve made it further than you thought we could. I wish I could wrap you in my arms right now and let you cry without holding it in, laugh without apology, and dream without someone telling you you’re too much.

There are things I wish I could’ve shielded you from—moments that chipped away at your light. People who didn’t see your worth. Days when you felt invisible, or worse, like a burden. But I want you to know something: You were never the problem. You were just ahead of your time.

You always loved hard, felt deep, questioned everything. And I’m proud of you for that. I’m proud of you for surviving when you didn’t know how. For still smiling in photos when your heart was heavy. For not letting the world break you—even when it tried.

I still carry parts of you inside me. The playful, curious, emotional, wild little spark that just wanted to be seen and safe. I’m learning how to take care of us both now.

And maybe most importantly… I forgive you for everything you thought you did wrong. You were doing the best you could with what you had—and that was more than enough.

Walk with me. We’ve still got places to go.

I don’t know where home is yet. Not really. But I believe it’s out there. Not just four walls and a roof—but a feeling. A breath. A place where my heart can stop clenching and my body can finally exhale. I don’t know what it looks like, or who will be there waiting. But I believe I will recognize it the moment I feel safe—not just in my surroundings, but in myself.

Until then, I’ll keep moving. Gently. Boldly. Soft and fierce, all at once.

I’ll keep reaching—not because I’m lost, but because I’m learning how to grow into myself.

We may not know exactly where we’re headed yet,

but I promise—we’re on our way.

With all the love you always deserved,

Me (still searching, still standing, still full of fire—and never giving up on us)

#wordsformyyoungerself #dearyoungerme #healingjourney #innerchildhealing #becomingme #Selfcompassion #stillstanding #iammysafeplace #resilienceinbloom #traumasurvivor #survivingandthriving #reclaimingmystory #becomingwhole #homeisafeeling #findingmywayback #rootedinhope #ThisIsHealing #growingintomyself #letterstomyself #writingtoheal #memoirinprogress #heartonthepage #walkingwithher #wordsformyyoungerself #handinhandwithme #softisstrong #Learningtolovemyself

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I second this thought and add we need a BETTER word. #ChiariMalformation #ChronicPain

Today I spent the day watching documentaries including Pain Warriors and researching various pain topics. I have been spending alot of my time lately trying to educate and teach myself about pain in general and it’s been a JOURNEY. I spent the first two years of my diagnoses in a haze and I’m just starting to educate myself and finally absorb and accept the information I need to move forward on life and it’s illuminating. #Learningtolovemyself #chronicpainjourney

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I second this thought and add we need a BETTER word. #ChiariMalformation #ChronicPain

Today I spent the day watching documentaries including Pain Warriors and researching various pain topics. I have been spending alot of my time lately trying to educate and teach myself about pain in general and it’s been a JOURNEY. I spent the first two years of my diagnoses in a haze and I’m just starting to educate myself and finally absorb and accept the information I need to move forward on life and it’s illuminating. #Learningtolovemyself #chronicpainjourney

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Learning to Enjoy

Has anyone else that experienced #SexualTrauma have to learn what they enjoy sexually? I’m getting better at not shutting down sexual feelings but I still experience more pain than pleasure. Has anyone else experienced this? #SexualAbuseSurvivors #Learningtolovemyself

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How do you make a schedule or anything to remind yourself that you need to take care of yourself? #Selfcare #Learningtolovemyself

So I have days I don't do anything... I want to change that especially with my health with how it is. There are days I forget or don't care to take my meds (exemption of my birth control) also to shower, brush teeth and E.T.C. I think quarantine and everything else has gotten to me so any tips? Even how your taking care of yourself during quarantine? I just need something to help. #Healthcheck

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Self care; if you don’t want to do it, do it anyway. #SelfCareChallenge

Last night, I got hardly any sleep. I went to bed with a headache and a mindful of racing thoughts. When I woke up on what little sleep I had (still a headache) and finally gave up on being to go back to sleep, I felt fatigued, exhausted, and no motivation to do anything or leave my bed. Depression.

But no. Laying in my bed in the dark would do nothing for me. As I wrestled with myself of the idea of even getting up, I finally made the decision to get up and take a shower. I definitely needed it. I got out feeling clean in comfortable clean clothes. Then I decided I was going to eat something. I’m known for going all day without eating because my stomach is full of knots and I’m often not hungry. But the body needs food for energy so I made myself eat anyhow. String cheese, bite of an apple, 1 of the 2-pack mini breakfast sandwiches.

Just these basic acts of self care had me feeling better than I was in my dark bed-space. I spent quality time with my kids and my husband. I laughed with them, and cried with my husband over the things my mental illness has caused over my husband and family. But our bond strengthened. I allowed my feelings to happen, and reminded myself that they are ok and they are valid (in which I was raised to stuff my feelings; no one wanted to hear it as a child).

Now as I write this, I’m sitting on the couch next to my sweet son watching Uncle Grandpa and feeling grateful for this moment. I love being a mom. My children need a happy and healthy mom.

Today ended up being overall positive so far. I’ve even eaten another snack. And it all started with the small decision to show myself some basic self care, even when I felt I couldn’t, or didn’t want to.

Self care is a small step towards healing. ❤️

#52SmallThings #Depression #Anxiety #Childhoodemotionalneglect #AddictionRecovery #RepressedTrauma #Learningtolovemyself #Selfcare

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It was a year ago this week....

....my nightmare started. May 9, 2018, I felt a strange "shift" inside.  May 11, I began experiencing double vision.  A few weeks later, I could no longer hold my head up.  My health quickly degenerated and my breathing was affected.  I couldn't walk from one room to another in my house without having to stop, sit down, catch my breath, and rest.  My speech slurred, I choked easily and had difficulty swallowing.
At the end of June, I made my very first ride in the business end of an ambulance because I couldn't breathe, and I stayed a couple of nights in the hospital.
By the end of July, I made two more ambulance trips to the hospital.  I spent a week in the hospital, enduring multiple tests, trying to breathe, trying to understand what was happening to me.  
I came home with a diagnosis of  #MyastheniaGravis, MuSK positive.  I was home two nights when I made the third trip to the hospital -- I nearly choked to death on a sip of water.  My husband literally saved my life that night.
I felt so depressed, so hopeless, so stunned by the whole thing.  
A few weeks earlier, I was walking 5 miles a day.  Life was going great.  
I came home from the hospital, tethered to an oxygen tank, using a wheelchair or a cane, taking a ton of medications that had strange side effects.  It's a long, tough year.  I've cried buckets of tears, I've screamed at God, I've endured needle pokes, tests, more frustrations than I ever have.
And yet -- I'm still here.  I am much better.  I am thankful for being able to drive some, to smile, to thread a needle, to eat a normal meal without choking, to take a short walk.  I'm thankful for my husband who is a wonderful caregiver, and my PCP, Neurologist, Pulmonologist, the nurses, and the therapists -- all of whom play an important part in my health care.  My support system of good friends and family members is a special blessing.
It still isn't an easy adjustment, but I am beginning to settle into my "new normal."  I know there will be tough days ahead, but there will also be good days as well.
I just take things one day at a time -- sometimes one hour, or even one minute at a time.  
I know this has run long; if you've stuck it out with me this far, I really appreciate your time.  :)  
Tomorrow is another day....
#learningtoliveagain #Learningtolovemyself #ChronicIllness #muskmg #MyastheniaGravis

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