To the courageous.

And also to the hurt.

Sometimes people ask me, "Is it tiring to see people each and every day and listen to their problems?"

Of course it is, there's alot of emotions going on most of the time.

But while this work is tiring I'll have to admit it also thoroughly invigorates me.

Above and beyond the emotions I have to witness and go through during our sessions.

Why?

Well, just yesterday I saw someone who went through too much trauma as a kid - emotional neglect, unloving and dismissive parents, so much so they felt so "small", worthless and utterly defective for the last 30 years of their lives.

For them, talking about their feelings felt wrong.

Life was about giving in to the needs of everybody else other than themselves.

When I asked them too, they even felt like they didn't deserve to build a better life for themselves at all.

Because they didn't feel they were worth it.

This pain was BIG.

But then.

Their courage was BIGGER.

Because while it was hard to talk through all the memories of the past, still we pushed on and walk through every major one of them we did.

And that is no easy task, because it takes courage to go through all this past pain again.

But by doing so, we allow ourselves to see a different perspective of the past, which is what this person realised too, saying:

"I finally see how much my younger self went through now. They didn't deserve that all".

But that was not the end of the thought, because this same person went on to say:

"But I also see that I'm no longer the same person I was in the past - I'm no longer that helpless kid. And though that kid is still part of me, I'm a different person now"

Then this person spoke the words below, sending me goosebumps through my spine:

"So from now on, for myself and for that kid inside of me, I really want to choose to LIVE".

And right there, again, for the umpteenth time this week - my heart sings.

Take care,

Hernping