The holidays can be a difficult season for a lot of survivors, for a variety of reasons. Thanksgiving is often considered to be an “easier” holiday than Christmas, but if (like me) you didn’t have a healthy family it can bring up sad memories and painful contrasts with apparently happy families.

If this is the case for you, will you consider joining me in an exercise? Maybe we can make this year’s Thanksgiving the best one yet by making it internally honest. There is much in our past that was harmful. We can’t afford to ignore or neglect the bad things but sometimes we can choose not to focus on them. So we can say (to ourselves usually, not out loud) things like, “Yes, I’m sad that my parents didn’t protect me, and I’m also thankful that I now am in a place that is safe.” Or, “I’m angry when I think about the person who hurt me when I was a child, and I’m thankful that as an adult I can choose good friends who love me.”

As always, please email me if you have questions, comments, or disagreements! Mary.Brown@SilenceBrokenNow.org.

Photo by Mark Casey on Unsplash.com