DefineYourself

“Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life; define yourself.”– Harvey Fierstein

I've recently been binge watching Criminal Minds, and started at the beginning of season 1. In one particularly gruesome case of a psychopath butcher killer, Hotch (one of the main characters, and detective in the FBI), told the man that some people grow up to become monsters because of the tragedies forced upon them when they were young. 

The psychopath questioned Hotch, "Some?" 

Hotch responded, "Some of them grow up to catch the monsters."

You see, Hotch and the killer had similar backgrounds. Violent fathers, submissive mothers, horrible tragedies and memories that will haunt both for life. One became a manic killer, who no longer had any empathy for the human race, while the other created a life to help others escape hell or stop others from forcing it upon them. The pasts were the same. The outcome was different. Why? 

Coming from a broken home myself, this is a subject I have never tired of and something I've always studied into. The more I have journeyed into adulthood, the more I have strived to forge myself as who I want to be and who I believe I've been created to be. I do this with the knowledge that I will always be influenced by the past, and my very act of changing is due to my past. I struggle against the statistics, and I realize I am rare in that I survived to be the kind of person that I am.

As a child, you have little control of the circumstances around you. You also have little idea of who to ask for help or even how to go about it. However, once you're an adult, you are given that beautiful power to be you. Please don't allow others to make you a victim if you have the power to say no. Some things aren't ok. Unhealthy relationships, communication, etc, are ok to say no to. What is most amazing, is taking the experiences and lessons learned, and applying them in a way to help others. We can't change people, but we can offer love and grace in a world filled with hate and judgement. Be the arms of Christ, defy the odds, don't be a victim, and don't be silent. Push your own limits, and ignore the ones placed upon yourself by others. You're made of far much greater things.

Peace & Blessings

Ashley