Heroes come from the simplest of places.
Can we talk about shame for a minute?
I think that most of us don’t want to talk about those things in life where we feel this weight of shame. Most of us, if you’re like me, try to control all the externals and hide those places that are darker or not as pleasant.
But truly, when we tuck away those parts we allow the fear of approval and disapproval to chip away at our joy.
And oftentimes in life there is shame attached to things that shouldn’t have that label and, in fact, need to be talked about. When we hide, we cannot be whole and we cannot bring healing to anyone else.
For years, I myself hid. I hid and worked to give the illusion of having it all together until the day when the facade crumbled and I was faced with feeling shame or faced with fighting for life and truth.
I chose to fight.
And in that fight is a deep desire to be real, to share my story and to break the chains of shame that so many of us carry.
So today I met with a consumer credit attorney because I have been harassed by a debt collecting attorney over a debt from my marriage and one where I’ve worked to communicate and work with them. Have I felt shame about this? Yes. I had attached failure and poor judgment and all sorts of stuff to these papers that were mailed to my home. And that shame stopped me from doing what is right and defending myself and speaking out.
So I choose to speak out. Because as I talked with this attorney he and I exchanged stories of how many people are hurting out there thinking that there are no other options. We talked about individuals who are suicidal or have committed suicide. In fact, truthfully, I receive many notes from many moms who are at their end point who just needed to read one word of hope.
Hope comes when we don’t hide.
It comes when we admit that we don’t have it together all the time. It comes when we are willing to drop the masks of perfect and just be real. So many of us need that hope. We need a friend, an advocate and a hero.
Be that hero.
Especially this season. When it seems like everyone else has everything together. Chances are there is someone very close to you who hurts inside. Be there.
Most of the time a hero is the most ordinary. It is the person who stops and smiles. The person who drops food at the door. The person who shows up. The person, like my attorney, who fights for what is right. The person who gives. The person who wipes away tears.
Life is filled with heroes.
Don’t every underestimate the power of you.
I love you guys.
Thanks for being my hero every single day.
~Rachel
ps. You are not defined by the past. Remember that. No matter what anyone says or what a piece of paper states – past and numbers and documents do not define your worth.
