“Not all toxic people are cruel and uncaring. Some of them love us dearly. Many of them have good intentions. Most are toxic to our being simply because their needs and way of existing in the world force us to compromise ourselves and our happiness. They aren’t inherently bad people. But they aren’t the right people for us. And as hard as it is, we have to let them go. Life is hard enough without being around people who bring you down, and as much as you care, you don’t destroy yourself for the sake of someone else. You have to make your well being a priority. Whether that means breaking up with someone you care about, loving a family member from a distance, letting go of a friend, or removing yourself from a situation that feels painful- you have every right to leave and create a safer space for yourself.”

Everyone has their own story. Meaning, families go through certain situations/conflicts, ups and downs between parents, etc. The true meaning of everyone having their own story means that everyone has been through something throughout their lifetime, mostly meaning the traumatic and negative experiences. We all have traumatic experiences especially when you know there have been conflicts throughout your family’s generations. For example, my story entails a long line of drug addicts and alcoholics. Throughout my mothers life, she has been through abuse physically and verbally, my family does not and never had a significant amount of money. My family has struggled with so many inacurrent’s and somehow we have managed to keep one foot in front of another. At the end of the day what you have to realize is that to keep up with all the negative aspects that have occurred within your life, you need to push yourself through the rough patches to show you that you are worthy of keeping yourself to move forward.

Over this past year, I have heard multiple life changing stories from teachers, students, family members, and friends. When I say that they are life changing stories, you need to believe me. Out of the 7.753 billion people in the world, someone is constantly fighting a battle. In other words, someone is always consistently going through a certain situation that they can’t resolve. Homelessness is one of the topics that is being talked about. It is very difficult to resolve this problem. But, there are ways to seek guidance if you are in this situation. There are shelters that would give these people food and a roof over their heads. It’s better than being on the streets with nothing. This is one of the situations that people have to go through on a daily basis.

Listening and giving your full attention to other people’s lives are important. You never know what someone is going through. You are not in those people’s shoes. But what you can do is listen and be there for them. The people who are quiet and not open to talking about their feelings, are the people who need it the most- all they need is someone who will listen. 

For this post I was asked to share personal stories by family members and friends. These stories are real and traumatic to the following people. I am very proud of the people who had the courage to share their traumatic experiences and to let people know that they are not the only ones struggling and pushing through the situations that they were in. 

Published by Anastasia B.