{"id":2006,"date":"2013-06-22T11:35:32","date_gmt":"2013-06-22T15:35:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ordinaryservant.com\/?p=2006"},"modified":"2013-06-22T11:35:32","modified_gmt":"2013-06-22T15:35:32","slug":"finding-your-voice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.ordinaryservant.com\/?p=2006","title":{"rendered":"Finding Your Voice"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week was difficult. I was yet again faced with a choice, either to accept abuse or not.<\/p>\n

You see, it would have been easier if it was a stranger, but it’s someone I love very much.<\/p>\n

As many of you know, I am 46 years of age. I don’t act like it, I don’t look like it, but I am.<\/p>\n

Those 46 years manifests itself through life experience.\u00a0 At 26, I wouldn’t have made the decision I made this week. I would have just accepted it and continue to tolerate it.<\/p>\n

I accepted toxic relationships and abuse. I didn’t know any better, or maybe I did, but I just didn’t know how to go about setting boundaries.\u00a0 I didn’t find my voice.<\/p>\n

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Courtesy of Creative Commons<\/p><\/div>\n

I accepted things, I made excuses and justifications for the abuse and utter disrespect, for years.<\/p>\n

When you are subject to abuse, it starts to look normal to you. You start to think this is how life is and you settle.<\/p>\n

However, there is a fighter in me.<\/p>\n

Despite the put downs, disrespect, name calling, being hit, cursed and spit at, abused in every sense of the word… deep down, I knew it was wrong. I knew I didn’t deserve it. I just knew.<\/p>\n

When I was a child, a teenager and even in my twenties, I didn’t have a voice. I was on coping mode. I was trying to make sense out of things that made no sense. I was trying to survive.<\/p>\n

I was surviving for years, but not living. I was just trying to get from one day to the next. In a dark, dismal and lonely world. I didn’t feel loved or love.<\/p>\n

Thanks to God, I came a long way from those days, but this week I was brutally reminded of it. I was faced again with a choice, do I just go along and accept it? Or do I say no?<\/p>\n

As much as it hurt me, I said no. I cut ties with this person I love. I am not angry. I am not harboring resentment or unforgiveness. I simply said no.\u00a0 I can love this person from afar and pray for them.<\/p>\n

I no longer have to accept or be subject to anyone’s abuse; whether it be family, friends, associates or strangers.<\/p>\n

I found my voice.<\/p>\n

Have you found yours?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week was difficult. I was yet again faced with a choice, either to accept abuse or not. You see, it would have been easier if it was a stranger, but it’s someone I love very much. As many of you know, I am 46 years of age. I don’t act like it, I don’t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[10,85],"tags":[452,467,468,466,469],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ordinaryservant.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2006"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ordinaryservant.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ordinaryservant.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ordinaryservant.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ordinaryservant.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2006"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.ordinaryservant.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2006\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2008,"href":"http:\/\/www.ordinaryservant.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2006\/revisions\/2008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ordinaryservant.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ordinaryservant.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ordinaryservant.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}