BETRAYAL

I used to think that “betrayal” was something that others did to me. Each instance truly felt like a sharp, external wound inflected by a person(s) I trusted. And for years, I carried those scars like proof of my violated innocence. But as time passed, I began to realize that more rested beneath the surfaces of those wounds. It was a combination of what they did to me and how I stopped being myself. I “betrayed” my own voice to keep the peace. I stayed silent when I should have spoken. I forgave too quickly; and not because they earned it. The “betrayal” resulted in the belief that I did not deserve better.

Now, looking back, the most painful “betrayals” were committed by me in the name of survival, not by the emotional perpetrators. I abandoned myself to stay in someone else’s story. My healing process from these “betrayals” has meant reclaiming those lost pieces of myself. Not done with blame, but with kindness and compassion. Often, the path to becoming whole starts when we forgive ourselves for a time that never should have happened. In the end, healing from betrayal is not about reclaiming trust – it is about coming home to the part of us we have left behind.