This is tough because I struggle to consider myself strong even now. This is not me saying I am weak necessarily, but due to my belief that the true strength comes from the Lord. Without Him, I would not have gotten this far.

That being said, I do remember back when I was going semi-regularly to counseling. My counselor, for the life of me I cannot remember her name, but she was so encouraging and uplifting after I talked with her about what I had been going through. I remember her looking me in the eye and telling me how far I have come.

When you have been holding onto negativity from your past whether it be trauma, resentment, anger and even hate, all that crap clouds your judgement and reality. Your mind cannot move on since it believes it is still going through that cycle. Thus, you cannot fathom your progression with healing.

When I finally began stepping out of those chains, I began to see and internalize that road from the rear view mirror. Instead of treating all those negative memories like current situations, I looked at them through the lens of an arduous journey that concluded many moons ago.

The past is in the past so that is where it shall stay.