On a platform full of weird corporate jargon and performative professionalism, allow me to share a brief story of my life. One human being to whoever cares to read it.
In my early twenties, I found myself in a relationship with someone who became physically, mentally, and financially abusive. I spent years being drained of everything I had, and more years after that trying to recover financially. I worked a full-time job, put myself back in school to get a bachelors from Harvard Extension School, and worked 3 side jobs to pay things off, make ends meet, and work towards a better future for myself. I worked around the clock for 7 years.
What it takes for a woman who has been through financial abuse to get back on her feet is not spoken about enough. What it takes for a woman to get out of situations like that is not spoken about enough.
Almost as soon as I got out of the hole, I fell back into it again. This time, I suffered two strokes two years in a row, and finally deteriorated rapidly to near death due to an incurable brain condition that I was finally diagnosed with, thousands of dollars in testing later. I had been telling the doctors to look at my brain since the first stroke, but due to my young age, and frankly my sex and race, I was dismissed and gaslit for years. This cost me thousands of dollars and a good chunk of my sanity. I finally got the brain surgery I needed to at least prevent the condition from killing me, but it, along with other health issues that I have (but don't stop me from working), still costs thousands of dollars in follow-up testing annually, and most months, I don't have anything left after I pay my bills. I missed a friend's wedding and my own Harvard graduation due to lack of funds.
I fell somewhere in the cracks of our system, where I make too much money to get help but not enough to live in actuality because I was being financially abused, recovering from financial abuse, sick, and what have you. I am sure I am not the only one.
The struggle, to be completely transparent, continues, but I manage to stay optimistic by reminding myself that I am doing what I can with what I have now. I try not to let any of this bog me down in my day-to-day. At the end of the day, I believe in my own resilience, as it has already gotten me this far. I graduated last May in spite of my health situation. I took one week off of school for my brain surgery and I was right back in class, never even missing an assignment. I was in a wheelchair, intermittently blind, mostly bedridden, had some days spent completely unconscious, in and out of the ER, and I still kept going. If I could get a degree from Harvard and graduate with honors in those circumstances, I never have a reason to doubt myself ever again.
All this to say, while I physically can't make things like, say, morning jogs a healthy daily habit, I do make it a point, every day, to appreciate what I have, to nurture my creativity, and remind myself what I am made of.
Registered Dietitian | Nutritionist | Recovery | Addiction | Life Coach | Spiritual Advisor | Christ-centered Meditation & Prayer | Divorce Recovery | Christian Content | Thought Leader | Speaker | Founder YahLight LLC
9moLooking forward to listening.