Wednesday

Helping Others

When I was 17 years old I was abducted by a stranger.

I survived...obviously, but it was difficult.

Today, I'm a well-adjusted adult with a desire to help others who have been through a similar situation, but let me tell you...it took me a long time to get to "well-adjusted".

When it first happened to me all I wanted to do was to pretend it didn't happen. Of course, I couldn't pretend with myself but to everybody else I acted like it never happened. That didn't change the way people treated me though.

Inside I was angry at everybody.

I was angry at my friends for not being more comforting and supportive but at the same time I was angry with them when they tried to talk about what happened to me.

I was screaming inside because I wanted to talk about it but I didn't want to bring my pain to the surface. I wasn't ready to deal with it.

To avoid dealing with my pain I suppressed it with drugs and alcohol.

 I DO NOT recommend this method!

Yes, it worked...temporarily. I was so messed up that it was easy to push my pain to the back of my mind and pretend it never happened but, guess what? I made a lot of horrible choices while I was messed up. Choices that I will have to live with for the rest of my life.

16 years passed before I finally opened up and started talking about what had happened and I can honestly say I wish I had done it sooner. I know it sounds clique but I feel so much better now. When I told my story, people opened up to me and told me their story. It helped to hear their pain. It helped to know that someone else knew what I was going through.

Now all I want to do is help others.

♥ Diana