Part 1
From Victim. To Survivor. To Becoming a POWERFUL LIFE FORCE
author: Kathleen Hoy Foley
VICTIM
VICTIM is a power word. It describes. It resonates. It expresses a truth. It coalesces all the broken parts into a whole. It becomes a thing. A thing that can be looked at. Understood. Managed. Surmounted. And utilized for your greater good.
VICTIM describes violence. Violence is domineering, tyrannical, life-changing maltreatment perpetrated by one against another. Many victims of violence do not even recognize that they are victims. Victims of violence often do not identify as violence the maltreatment they were subjected to. Violence is not always loud. Oftentimes violence is quiet, shifty; covert. Most violence committed against another goes unseen, unheard, and unverified, leaving the victim in a purgatory of self-blame, shame, confusion, and trauma. Being subjugated by violence always results in trauma.
Trauma is devious: it kills personal power. Trauma surreptitiously permeates and weakens a life by constantly recreating itself by attracting more trauma. Trauma establishes an energy that evokes behavior that becomes a magnet for physical, emotional, and psychological disorder. All disease begins with dis-order. Trauma is a disorder. Trauma must be resolved before a life can be made whole. Trauma never resolves itself.
VICTIM is a power word. Recognizing yourself as a victim of violence is the first step toward resolving trauma. Say it out loud: I AM A VICTIM OF VIOLENCE. Say it again. And again. Say the words “I AM A VICTIM OF VIOLENCE” until that powerful truth penetrates the wall of resistance you’ve erected to protect your heart. Say your truth words until you feel the heat of them connect with the wellspring of hidden truths.
When you have internalized this powerful truth, begin to consciously support yourself with your power thoughts and power words. You are a VICTIM. Not his victim. Not her victim. The abuser is not your abuser. Separate yourself from all emotional and verbal connections to the abuser. The abuser does not belong to you. You do not belong to the abuser. The abuse was not your choice. The abuse was done to you.
Your singular task is to resolve the resulting trauma, to make yourself whole, to illuminate your life. To create the life of your dreams. You are the only one who can do that. You are the super power.
Next time: Survivor
VICTIM is a power word. It describes. It resonates. It expresses a truth. It coalesces all the broken parts into a whole. It becomes a thing. A thing that can be looked at. Understood. Managed. Surmounted. And utilized for your greater good.
VICTIM describes violence. Violence is domineering, tyrannical, life-changing maltreatment perpetrated by one against another. Many victims of violence do not even recognize that they are victims. Victims of violence often do not identify as violence the maltreatment they were subjected to. Violence is not always loud. Oftentimes violence is quiet, shifty; covert. Most violence committed against another goes unseen, unheard, and unverified, leaving the victim in a purgatory of self-blame, shame, confusion, and trauma. Being subjugated by violence always results in trauma.
Trauma is devious: it kills personal power. Trauma surreptitiously permeates and weakens a life by constantly recreating itself by attracting more trauma. Trauma establishes an energy that evokes behavior that becomes a magnet for physical, emotional, and psychological disorder. All disease begins with dis-order. Trauma is a disorder. Trauma must be resolved before a life can be made whole. Trauma never resolves itself.
VICTIM is a power word. Recognizing yourself as a victim of violence is the first step toward resolving trauma. Say it out loud: I AM A VICTIM OF VIOLENCE. Say it again. And again. Say the words “I AM A VICTIM OF VIOLENCE” until that powerful truth penetrates the wall of resistance you’ve erected to protect your heart. Say your truth words until you feel the heat of them connect with the wellspring of hidden truths.
When you have internalized this powerful truth, begin to consciously support yourself with your power thoughts and power words. You are a VICTIM. Not his victim. Not her victim. The abuser is not your abuser. Separate yourself from all emotional and verbal connections to the abuser. The abuser does not belong to you. You do not belong to the abuser. The abuse was not your choice. The abuse was done to you.
Your singular task is to resolve the resulting trauma, to make yourself whole, to illuminate your life. To create the life of your dreams. You are the only one who can do that. You are the super power.
Next time: Survivor
