Trauma And Self-Loyalty

Loyalty to the self is always key,

and never more so than

with survivors of childhood trauma.

As children, we were conditioned to believe

that we didn’t matter,

that our needs were unimportant,

and that it was our job to cater to the desires,

whims, and needs of others…

our survival depended on it.

In our desire to please those

whose love and care we needed the most,

we did this adeptly from the start.

In the process,

we learned to ignore the quiet,

pleading voice within ourselves

that was desperate for anything

remotely resembling love and care.

We carried these habits into our adult lives

and became codependent people-pleasers

who morphed ourselves

into whatever we believed

others needed us to be.

Down the line,

we woke up to the fact

that we had no idea who we were,

what we needed,

and how to care for ourselves properly.

Trauma took our lives from us,

but we can take it back

by learning to live in a way

that honors who we are

and who we are becoming.