"Sometimes I feel cold as steel
Broken like I'm never gonna heal..."
(from lyric to "Hello World" by Lady Antebellum)
I've promised not to hog my journey. And I meant it.
After my first husband made his exit, I saw a counselor for a while. I loved her and she helped me and the kids immenseley! One of the things she shared with me was about what she called "sneaker waves." Another friend of mine calls them "grief bursts." These are sudden moments of grief and pain that creep up on a person, many times at unexpected moments. I'm glad she warned me about them.
Here's the bottom line: A girl doesn't emerge from 13 years of repeated incidents of infidelity unscathed. That type of repeated emotional damage actually creates some deep and abiding wounds.
Most days I'm ok. Most days I'm great, actually. But every once in a while a symptom emerges that I can't deny. There are voices in my head that tell me terrible lies. Every so often a situation will arise and I am simply unable to cope with it in a healthy way. The voices of self-derision intensify in volume and I feel an all-too-familiar pain in my chest. "You're unwanted, unloved, unattractive. You can't keep a man's interest. Your first husband couldn't be faithful to you and somehow it was your fault. You are talented and smart but that's not enough. You are too damaged. You will not be healthy again."
I'm cornered by the voices and I collapse.
Such a collapse occurred again a few days ago. But this time I did something different. This time I ran TO someone who loves me (two someones, actually. Namely, God and my husband) instead of away. This time I stopped denying the existence of my wounds. I showed them to God. I let my husband see too. Then I asked God to heal them somehow.
"I see a little light, a little faith unfurls....
Hello, world."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I wish there was a "like" button on these things...
I'll make one up.
Like. :)
"This time I stopped denying the existence of my wounds." Yep...done that. I've been doing a lot of soul searching this past week on areas of grief that I've never let see the light of day. I thought having them covered was a good thing I guess. It has felt good to let the wind blow through a little and air out the stuffy places in my head. Things and people look different when the windows are open.
Thanks for sharing your journey.
Thank you for this post. It meant a lot to me.
Oh...I, too, am so glad you shared this. I completely understand the sneaker waves. I'm still working on those voices (wondering if there is a mute button for them).
Post a Comment