Healing Happens...

Yes, it does. I'm witnessing it with the release of my book among those who have read it and shared their personal stories with me.

Besides being an "inspiration" or an "example of strength and survival," the comments that hit me hardest are those that tell me I have broken through a barrier to one's own healing and they have taken steps (or, simply, one step) towards making positive, guided changes in their life.

This inspires me to continue. This urges me forward with my own constant health care. This is why I wrote the book.

Someone very near and dear to me has made a tremendous breakthrough simply by digesting the words and applying them through elective counseling and therapy. If this was the sole reason for my book's publication, I am more than grateful. I am elated. Others, too, are telling me similar stories; ones that break my heart but are also so uplifting because I know these readers are on their way to healing individual trauma.

Those of us who have been impacted by childhood abuse or maltreatment understand the lifelong effects. And, as I keep repeating, current studies, like The ACE Study, reveal that we are more prone to adult physical illness. We are 'damaged goods' and have to strive to break the mold that was set for us as youngsters. It is never easy to be told by anyone, including a trained professional, that in order to fully heal, we must revisit our past - open up old wounds; remember things we don't want to remember or can't even remember. Dig deeper, they say. And my book is like the back hoe.

I am amazed.

This week I have a private book launch party scheduled in the south. About 40 friends and others are planning to attend. I am overwhelmed with the response and while I learn how to communicate my message verbally as well as by the written word, I am getting excited about replicating this event in New York and other places around the country. I'm also keeping a close eye on not wearing myself out and inducing a flare of my own chronic illnesses.

This is a personal post rather than an educational one. Thank you for the indulgence. Thank you for believing in what I have to say. Thank you for allowing me to live my life among the strongest people I know - those who are always seeking to improve, to change, to heal.

Healing happens.

http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/