Breakdown

You know how sometimes you just feel like bursting into tears and you have no idea why?  You know that feeling you get where you're just so depressed that you want to stop trying?  That feeling where you feel so weak and unworthy that you're afraid to try to stand up?

That's the breaking point.  It's where the breakdown's gonna happen.

You can't stop it.

You can't run from it.

I've suffered through the pain of my own breakdown in the past - two, in fact - and I can honestly tell you that it's hell to get through, but that I wouldn't have made it through alive if it weren't for certain friends.  My friends were (and are) wonderful and way more patient and kind than I deserved, but I'm forever grateful for what they did for me.  

The journey through may seem to be unbearable, but I can promise you that once you reach the other side, there will be a change.  A change for the better and a change in *you.*  It will be worth it.

"....the pain ain't gonna last forever...."  - Mandisa 'Stonger'

And though that simple phrase is, I agree, such a cliche, the message it speaks is profound and rings ever true.  I know it feels like pain is all you have, but it's not.  It will never be all you have.  I won't tell you that it will one day leave and you'll be pain-free, but I will say that as time goes on and you take the time to allow yourself to heal, it will lessen.  And once it lessen's, you'll begin to be able to stand again and soon you'll be taking baby steps and learning to walk and run once more.  

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."  - Eleanor Roosevelt

This First Lady hit the nail on the head with this one; what a wise woman.  No one can make you feel unworthy, unwanted, unloved, inferior, etc., unless *you* allow them to or *you* give them permission to do so.
I mean, think about how many women are in (or have been in) relationships where they're treated so wrongly and then they [the women], as a result, feel inferior, unworthy of love and a good man (or woman!), they feel like they're not beautiful; ladies, you are all of those things and so much more!  I know it's difficult to think about it in that situation and it's even more so to break away from it, but  - though it may not feel like it in the moment - *you* are allowing yourself to feel that way and you are allowing that man to treat you like that.
Be an Eleanor!  Stand up for yourself!  Take a stand and make a change.

To sum things up: Breakdown's will happen, but it's how you handle them that makes all the difference.  Let someone in enough to help you heal; allow the pain to lessen so you can enjoy the adventure [life] you're in.  Wake up and let out your inner Eleanor!  Let yourself shine and if there's people in your life who can't handle that, well, then they know where the door is and they can just leave.

How will you take a stand?
How will you handle your breakdown?
How will you make a change?

Until our next encounter,
Lauren