I can share my story of how I rose above what I call 'the muck of surviving," but I don't have the answers for anyone else. What I do share with fellow survivors of childhood sexual abuse is that we must "do the work," whether that is counseling, journaling, creating art, immersing ourselves in nature, etc. We must find the courage to heal and accept that it's a lifetime commitment. We must not quit or give up on ourselves because we deserve happiness and peace of mind.
Don't You Quit
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road your trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low but the debts are high,
And you want to smile but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit...
Rest if you must, but don't you quit!
Life is queer with it's twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many failures turn about,
When we might have won had we stuck it out.
Don't give up though the pace seems slow...
You may succeed with another blow.
Often the struggler has given up
when he might have captured the victor's cup;
And he learned too late when the night came down,
How close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out...
And you can never tell how close you are
It may be near when it seems so far.
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit!
Edgar A. Guest
Collage by Nancy Dahlhauser
www.nancydahlhauser.com