You are not a victim. You're a survivor.

I remember the day that I decided to take part in my first Mud Run. I called up a friend and she put me in contact with a group that had an extra ticket to the sold out event. I had decided that I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and try the run.

Little did I know how hard it would be. I learned afterwards that the course had been setup similarly to what they test the marines in. There was an obnoxiously high wall that you had to climb up and over, mud to crawl through, and an obstacle with a wet (and muddy) pole that you had to slide down.

The picture of me below shows that moment where I had just hit the ground hard. My knee hurt and I felt a bit out of it, but I didn’t give up.

It was hard, but I did it.

I chose to see myself as a fighter and a survivor.

In life, I want to grow, learn, and to challenge myself. I do not wish to be limited by what I learned in my childhood or to be trapped in the dysfunction that I saw around me.

With substance abuse, addiction, and dysfunctional behaviors, what I saw in my early family has affected me, but it hasn’t defined me.

It’s not all of who I am.

So that’s why I decided to go on this journey of happiness and love.

For each of us, all we have is ourselves. In the end, what we think about ourselves and how we treat ourselves is critical toward whether we’re going to be happy or not.

And I’m here to share with you that there is hope.

Let’s listen together on how we can overcome our pasts and to embrace the possibility of today. There is no magic secret. It’s going to take work and time, but we’re not alone.

We have each other and everyone in the Adult Children of Alcoholics and Dysfunctional Families community.

Like what you hear? Check out the Let Go and Be Free and the 30 Days of Gratitude journal.

Thank you!

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