‘Do not be afraid to share your story’
By Yaya Rudo
When my family experienced a traumatic armed robbery back in 2011, I reluctantly agreed to go see a counsellor. I just went there to tick the boxes everyone said it would be good for me .I just did not believe in counselling. I was only interested in help and support that would lead to two things – one, getting our stolen property back and two, having the robbers behind bars for good.
When the councillor advised me that as part of my healing I must share my story I literally fell off the chair. Foolish psychology- so I thought. She was encouraging me to tell everyone who cared to listen what had happened the night of the robbery.
She wanted me to share with just about anyone how I felt, the hunger and desire for revenge. This she said, was going to be the core to my healing process. This advice cemented my negative attitude towards therapists. I felt strongly, that it was foolish and useless. Thank goodness I was raised right; I politely smiled, waved and sat through the whole one hour of the counselling session.
When lemons have been thrown at you , often you feel lonely, broken and unloved or unappreciated. Sometimes we are so hurt inside, we just want to be alone and shut everyone out.
Maybe you are struggling with the loss of someone close to you, or it is a relationship that has gone sour, maybe you are at financial rock bottom. Could it be that you have been fired, failed important exams or you have serious marital challenges. Did someone abuse you physically or emotionally? You are not alone! Find a way to talk about it.
I was pleasantly surprised by my own transformation when I started sharing my story. I remember how I cried so much as I narrated my story over the phone to my siblings, by the time I spoke to my cousins I was more calm, I was now describing the robbers with dramatic effects.
When I eventually shared my story with friends from church, my gym buddies and school run moms I was no longer crying. I was now a creative! I was now back to my old self taking the opportunity to hone my story telling techniques.
I am happy to say that, besides my initial resistance to sharing my story, I have adopted sharing as part of healing to any challenges I face today. The problem does not go away right away but I get a sense of relief when I share. Try it.
I do not know what life has thrown at you today, but I would like to encourage you to share your story, male readers included. Sometimes taking it like a man is talking about it. Do not hide from the world, talk about it. I am fully aware that some issues are more sensitive than others. There are things that are not for your running club or your office production team. Identify someone to tell your story, bottling up pain damages the container.
I have listened to Lemonade Makers sharing their stories and felt uplifted. When you share you start healing! Your story shared has the potential to heal others, bring hope and change mindsets. Write that book, write a short story and let us talk about it. Your story could be someone’s lifeline today while healing you in the process.
I raise my glass to Lemonade Makers who are bold enough to share their stories.
2019 Powered by grace and mercy!
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