My Reflection

When I look in the mirror, I hate everything about you. You are fat and ugly! You've got pimples all over your face and your teeth are crooked. Nobody is going to want you. Ha-ha! They're talking about you. See them pointing and laughing at you? You don’t fit in. You are dumb. You’re never gonna be nothing!

I have sex with you… I don’t want to. Do I have to prove my love for you?

I took a drink.... OK! This makes me feel better! I'm the life of the party!

I took a hit of cocaine....Wow! Now I can forget the loneliness.

They rape me… Get off of me! I’m tainted and dirty.

Attempts at suicide… The world would be better off without me.

I'm standing on the corner with no place to go... Sir, you need some company? It's cold out here...

God! Why did you let this happen to me?

He stabs me in the chest.....This is what I deserve!
HIV...No one wants me!
Those lies almost killed me. How did they start?

The day I looked in the mirror and believed what others said about me. My own perception of who I was had already been altered at the age of 5 by sexual abuse. As I grew older, those lies became my truths, my reality. It took me years to realize the love and acceptance I was searching for started with me loving on me!

Imagine where I would be if those words were positive and uplifting. Words are powerful and we don't always know the mindset of the individual in which we speak them to. Do not choose your words litely. It could be a matter of life or death for someone who standing at a cliff ready to jump off!

Peace and love,

Michelle