Be thankful that:
•We are not them.
•We are still alive after all we’ve been through.
•We decided to be more caring than selfish.
•We don’t carry hate. That’s too heavy a burden and we just don’t have that kind of time, energy, or heart. — We have things to accomplish in our lives.
•We turned our trauma into good and our dark into light.
•We learned that boundaries are good self-care.
•We don’t blame others for how our lives turned out.
•We have the ability for self- reflection and self-improvement.
•We can apologize, change, learn and grow.
•We don’t wallow in our pain.
•We don’t need their validation to feel whole.
•We have the guts to face our pain and our responsibilities.
•We don’t have to live like that anymore.
•We don’t live in labels.
•We don’t let diagnoses drive.
•We learned to look at fear and anxiety right square in the face and keep going anyway. (Maybe fear and anxiety are afraid of us? Ever think of that?) 💪🏻
•We see them for what they are.
•We control our own lives.
•We know now we can’t change them. — (How exhausting it is when we think we can.)
•They can no longer hurt us.
•We expect nothing from no one.
•For books to help us learn.
•For therapists who lend an ear.
•And for those who share their stories so we feel less alone.
I’m thankful to the readers and supporters of Steel Town Girl, the followers here who are also digging deep with me —who are writing their own memoirs or processing their own pain — and those who know how to hold space for those of us who are healing from enormous pain and trauma for ourselves and our families, even if they themselves have never dealt with any of the same issues we have.
Thank you!
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Xoxo! 😙😘
Robin Donnelly 