You Can't Outrun It

Not all of us have had storybook childhoods. For those of us who did, we can count ourselves blessed and so very, very fortunate.  But even then, some of us entered into adulthood, and were slammed with something that shook our world.

Childhood abuse.  Bullying. An onslaught of people who didn’t love us the way they should have. Being labeled unfairly. Feeling forgotten.  Whatever it was, whether it was in your childhood, early adulthood, or something you’ve dealt with fairly recently…. It sticks with you.

You don’t just forget.

Words and actions can hurt us more than any illness ever could. They are personal. Wounding. And life-long.

We carry them with us. Whether we move from city to city, job to job, or relationship to relationship.

You can’t outrun them. You can’t hide them. They are stuck inside, like glue.

We can try to turn our back on the pain of yesterday. We can try to ignore what happened to us.

It’s all, futile.

The only way to overcome unfairness, and pain from the past – is to face it.

We need to face the fact that a portion of our life was deeply unfair. We need to acknowledge that we may have been robbed of something.

It was wrong. It hurt. But it happened. And it happened to us.

That doesn’t mean that we deserved it. In fact, we most probably did not.

It doesn’t mean we are worthless. In fact, we are priceless and unique.

Stop your running. You won’t be able to outrun the words that echo in your mind and heart. You won’t be able to outrun the past.

Stop. Turn around and face it. Summon up the courage to let the past know that you won’t be labeled or identified that way, anymore.

It’s time to say, “no more.”

Cry. It’s SOOO okay to cry!  Yell at the unfairness of it all. Grieve the loss of your childhood, or of relationships that should have been special. Grieve.

Acknowledge.

Then, instead of running, start to walk. Move forward one foot at a time. Walk. Walk with a new identity; one of knowing that something in life didn’t defeat you. It didn’t win.

You survived. You survived and you refused to let it make you bitter, angry, isolated, insecure, or defeated.

Maybe once – but not anymore.

You are now victorious. A warrior. An overcomer.  This is your new label, your new identity!  Wear it proudly. Wear it with love. And use it to help someone else who may be stuck in the pit – trying to outrun the hurts of the past.

This is the cycle of life. The cycle of love.

Life needs you. But it needs you whole.

No more running.