Some days, it feels like the world only ever saw the version of me it wanted to see – small and quiet. Not the version I was looking at. Not the child that was desperate to be heard with anger issues and dreams of a 'diagnosis.'
I read an article recently about Arnold Schwarzenegger. It felt like it could have been written about and for me.
He was different in every way. They told him he didn’t belong. That he’d never make it. That his voice, his body, and even his name would hold him back. But he kept going. Not because people believed in him, but because he believed in himself.
I've never needed those, but I know what it feels like to keep moving forward with nothing others are interested to see. To grapple with doubts – and I still choose to rise. That’s my strength. But overcoming self-doubt is a daily decision. A quiet act of defiance. A way of saying, I am more than what you see. I am 'me.'
The naysayers may still exist. They always seem to. But their voices have grown softer. Not because they’ve stopped speaking – but because I’ve stopped listening. I’m learning that resilience isn’t loud. It’s not always applause or recognition.
Sometimes, it’s just continuing. Taking the next step, even when no one’s clapping.
But I trust and believe in myself. I see the road behind me – how far I’ve come, how many times I stood back up to push myself forward. That is power. Success, for me is getting up in the morning and feeling better about my life, my experiences. I still carry trauma and how I got to this place.
My achievements don't have to look like anyone else’s. They just have to feel like they're mine. They're beginning to.
