Becoming Her

There are some emotions we bury so deep because we believe no one in the world would understand them. We look around at our lives and think, How could I feel this way? Look at everything I have. Look at how blessed I am. How dare I feel like this? So, we don’t deal with it. We pack it away, hoping it will disappear. But feelings don’t disappear…. like an ink stain, they bleed through onto every other page of our lives.

I remember the years I spent trying to come to terms with the fact that I was an alcoholic. Shame kept me silent. All I could see around me were “storybook” lives, perfect families, perfect careers, perfect smiles. At least that’s what shame wanted me to see.

Sure, I listened to speakers and strangers talk about overcoming addiction, and while inspiring, it didn’t hit me the same way. But the moment I heard the testimony of someone I actually knew, someone whose life I had seen up close, it shifted something in me. Suddenly, I felt less alone. Suddenly, healing felt real, it felt possible.

Just recently, I learned that a few people I’ve known for years had walked their own hidden battles with alcoholism. I thought to myself, Do they realize the power they hold right now? The lives they could change, the fires they could ignite! All by sharing their truth.

There is so much power in vulnerability. We don’t walk through pain and struggle for no reason. They say light-bearers often have difficult lives for a reason… because we are meant to shine that light for others still lost in the dark.

Don’t ever be ashamed of your testimony. Your story is a lighthouse, guiding others safely through storms they think will drown them. You are beautiful. Your experience is unique, and only you can tell it the way it needs to be told.

How powerful is that?