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FindingClosure

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Blog Entries posted by FindingClosure

  1. FindingClosure

    Feeling Better

    By FindingClosure,

    I am feeling much better today. Thanks to this website, I was able to let things out and read helpful responds from my post. A lot of things I have already have known in process of healing, but now I feel like I can really practice them in my life.
    My problem is very much fear driven like others. I knew this before, but I truthfully realized now that fear is not real. What is not real can not hurt me. I will not live and controlled by fear. I think if I can control my fear, then my triggers may be controlled as well. According to the self-help book I read, being logical really helps in healing process. It is easy said than done, but I think I can finally do it after letting some things out in forums and my blog.
    I know that most of us feel as though we lost ourselves and constantly try to redefine or find ourselves again. I think that is actually easier than what we make it out to be. We can also define ourselves for what we are not. Look at your fears and look at your triggers. I mean, I want you to really really think about them. Why do you have that fear? Why do you have that trigger? Now, does it make sense why you are being controlled by that fear or trigger? Can you define yourself to be who you are with that fear or trigger? Are you that person within your fear or trigger? You are not. You are not that person in your fear or your trigger. That's who you are not and that defines you. You are safe now. You are living your life. You are getting better now. That defines who you are. Don't look so far to find yourself. You have been there all along.
  2. FindingClosure
    I was able to control my flashbacks and fears by being logical by keep telling myself that I am safe, fear is not real. But, sometimes it just gets so overwhelming and I tend to break down and about to get that dark place I do not want to be at. I am still fighting hard. I keep telling myself that I am in control and not my perpetrator. I think of it as every second I give in to flashbacks, triggers, and fears, I am making my perpetrator happy and having him have control of my life. That gives me motivation to fight back and take control. I will keep fighting back, but today is definitely tough for me to deal with. I hope everyone else is doing better than I am. Thanks for reading.
  3. FindingClosure

    Old Habits

    By FindingClosure,

    I have some old habit I am not proud of mentioning. I have developed it about at the same time as flashbacks and triggers started (Flashbacks and Triggers started earlier but this is when I started be aware of them.) to happen in my late teens. This old habit happens to be a trigger as well, so it really makes me not want to do it but sometimes I can't stop doing it because I am addicted to it. I have been very good about it, but I fell off the wagon again. I will keep battling this by using logic and monitoring my behavior on this particular problem. Okay, it's porn. I am so ashamed to mentioning it, but if I am going to be honest here I really should revel what it is. I feel a little lighter by writing about it here. Thanks, my blog.
  4. FindingClosure

    Fighting Back

    By FindingClosure,

    I have been fighting hard. It seems the more I fight back, it comes back at me stronger. It is a struggle to regain myself in how to process my fears and telling myself to come back to the reality. The reality is that I know who I am and my fears stemming from my triggers, flashbacks, nightmares are all in my head. They are just in my head and imprisoning me. Fear is not real. It is not something you can touch or smell. Therefore it does not exist. What does not exist can not hurt me. I am in control. I will not give up and I will fight back harder. I know who I am. I am strong.
  5. FindingClosure
    I have read a lot of self healing materials and they really help me in understanding what my problems are. I know what I am dealing with and I know what to do, but it is so hard to follow with them. Things I most struggle with are flashbacks and triggers. They are getting worse as I get older. I guess because I have suppressed it for so long and so deep inside of me that I guess my mind finally has nowhere to keep everything in.
    I am wondering what kind of day I am going to have today. I am having panic attacks everyday from flashbacks and triggers around me. I usually manage and push through, but sometimes it is just too much to handle. I usually fake it 'till I make it as someone said.
    I was on the self-help forum the other day and someone said that keeping a journal of any kind will help with what I am going through. That is why I decided to start this blog. I think blogging is the perfect way to keep your life events and let everything out so everyone can read it. For so many years I have been silenced and told to not to tell anyone about my problems by my family made me feel like I was the problem one. I don't want to feel like that ever again. That's the one thing I clearly understood, that I am not the problem. They are the problem for shutting me down.
    It makes me very upset at my family when I think about what happened to me. I was only 8 years old and I went with perpetrator to protect my mom and my sisters. But, all my mom and sisters can tell me is that it happened long time ago and I should be fine now and I should move on. They say it like I just felt off the bicycle. Unlike other kids at that age, I told what happened to me to my mom and the person that was with her ( a pastor ). I ran to Church after what had happened to me because that where my mom and my sisters were. A pastor was just happened to be with my mom and I told them what had happened. A pastor laughed when he heard my story like I am telling a lie. My mom was worried and afraid. She cleaned me when we got home and I remember her crying I think.. She took me to a salon and asked to get a very short hair cut and bought me a new pair of glasses to disguise me hoping that perpetrator won't recognize me anymore. She told me to scream and run if I ever saw him again.
    I was pretty brave kid then. I was not ashamed of myself at all either then. I just knew that what he did was a wrong thing and I knew that he had to see justice at work. I asked around with difference kids in my neighborhood to see if anyone had similar experience. I found out that some other boys were also sexually assaulted/raped by this perpetrator. One kid told me that he knew where he worked. He told me that he worked at his parents corner market on the other side of the town. I decided to go and verify if he was the guy and when I got there, there he was. I immediately ran home and told my mom about who he was and where he was. I was sure that she will go to the police right away, but she didn't. In fact, that's when all the disguise thing happened and she told me to run when I ever saw him again. That's what I felt ashamed of myself. That's when I realized that I could not trust anyone, even my mother. This is when I start to shut everyone out and start to have very hard time making friends. Why didn't my mom see it? Why didn't my teachers see it? Why didn't my pastor see it?
    When I turned 22, I think I dare to bring up the subject to my parents because I was really having a hard time. My mom did not want to hear it. I asked my mom why she did not go to the authority and report the incident. My mom told me that because she did not want public and media to know about what happened. She told me that it would have been very hard for me. But, I think that it is a partial true that it would have been hard for me but I would not have felt like I do right now (ashamed, guilt, sad, rejected) if the truth was out. I really think that she did what she did because she was raising 4 children all by herself as a single parent at that time and she did not want to deal with that situation thinking that it will pass like everything else. Truthfully all I wanted to hear was that she was sorry and everything was her fault. I wanted to hear that she is sorry that she could not protect me like she should have aftermath. She never said those words. She said she did what she though that was best for me. The only reason why I went with the perpetrator was because he told me that he will hurt my sisters and my mom if I didn't go with him. I went to protect her and my sisters, but she did not want to protect me from aftermath. She only wanted to do what is the best interest for her and she convinced herself that it is the besting for me.
    I am not ashamed. This is not my fault. I am not going to let my perpetrator take control of rest of my life. I am not going to be like him although the statistic says that 80 to 90 percent of perpetrator are victims of sexual assault / rape. No, I am not going in to be a homosexual because I was force upon and force to perform oral from a guy. I will be okay. These are the fears I have been living with and what I have told myself to survive day to day basis. I have conquered all my fears except one. I am okay with all my fears except one that makes me really afraid. I do not want to become like him. just a little thought of it makes me want to hide. I feel like I should move away from society because of the statistic. I just realized something though. Maybe those who became perpetrators themselves never got to be a survivor. I think that those who became perpetrators as a result of their experience they stayed as victims. Wow, that is a powerful statement. This is like a eureka moment for me.
    I am a survivor. I will not let him control my life again. I will not let my mom control my life again. I will not let anyone control my life ever again.
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