What experiences have made you who you are?

9 comments

1. Bullying made me thing I was worthless.

   Friendship made me realise I was not.

   My friends helped me discover who I am, why do I deserve to be loved, and they were my support on my path in life.

   My bullies ended being sad excuses of human beings, and they are as small as they made me think I was during their bullying.

2. I was in a very toxic and abusive relationship for a long time. Since I left that situation, I feel like a new woman.

   I do not stand for any shit in my personal or professional life any more and I call people out rather than shrink myself to make them feel comfortable. I am expressing myself more and discovering who I am outside of fear and depression.

   If I look back on the time I endured that person and considered it a waste of years I would get so sad so I have to instead think about the lessons I learned and how that shaped who I am today.

3. everything, wouldn’t be who i am, as strong as i am, as knowledgeable as i am, so on and so forth without everything that’s happened in my life, not saying i deserved to go through it entirely but it showed me a lot about my resilience and strength, and just me as a person

4. I attended seminary and was a student minister for a while. It was the experience that led to me coming out. I also broke from the church, but that’s another story.

5. Earthlings, forks over knives, conspiracy, etc. changed my life for the better. No longer a hypocrite!

6. A combination of severe trauma, addiction, living as a mentally ill autistic ADHDer, but also recovery, self growth and examining my own patterns. I’ve still got issues, but because of going through hell and recovering from so many of the burns I’ve become someone resilient, non-judgemental, empathic, caring and self aware. And quite healthy in my way of viewing relationships, as I’ve been forced to really take my time to figure out what’s healthy and what’s not – something others don’t have to in the same way cause most people aren’t as messed up as I’ve been.

7. After dealing with a lot of family deaths and attending a funeral almost every year since I have turned 29 (I’m 35), I realized I have become morbid. I have a prearrange funeral plans, trust, will, and power of attorney. I have seen too many families scramble with a loss of a loved one and too many estate sales. I don’t want my loved ones being stressed out and deal with that burden.

8. Toxic relationships really showed me what I do and do not deserve in this life, and what I want out of it. I use my trauma to help others who are/have been in situations like mine.

   Loss/cancer. I’ve had a lot of losses and grief in my life. I’ve watched people die of cancer more than I’d like to. It’s shown me life is precious and we don’t know when our last moment will be. It helps me help others going through the same situation, and it’s really humbled me. It’s most of the reason why I’m persuing a career in nursing.

   On a happy note, I think my current relationship has really made me who I am today. I was just a shell of a person after my toxic relationships, and I feel like I have my sense of self back. I’m safe and happy, and most of all very much loved. My mental health is back on track and I have the best support system I could ask for. I’m back to my happy self I haven’t seen since I was a child, and it feels good.

9. All of them. Everything I’ve lived through has contributed to the person I am today in some way.