NO LONGER BONDED TO MY TRAUMA.

My trauma does not define me, but it did for a while. We were stuck together like glue, my number one pal.

I decided to heal and carry my trauma with me every day, but I envisioned things truly going a different way. It felt like I gave away my peace willingly to start confronting old versions of myself. Parts of me I hadn’t thought of in years. Parts of me that have held so many tears.It felt like a battlefield that I was unable to come out on the other side of with a victory.

But then I thought

I started this for me, not for those who have hurt me. I am not the reason why I was hurt, but I can be the reason I continue to feel stuck. Looking into my own eyes with a mirror view, I had to adjust the way I see myself and decide what is true.

Because it started with the thought of healing. Next followed the many actions to do so. After that, I sat in the mindset that my trauma defined my past, present, and who I would become in the future. I let my trauma decide who Ashley was and who she was going to be.

But in the end, I picked up my head. I adjusted my crown. Leading life with a smile. And I continued to come out on the other side, winning the prize I so desperately wanted. Genuine peace and no longer feeling haunted

A day-to-day bond that was broken as a new me had finally awoken.