Ilana Estelle is a mental health and wellbeing advocate who combines educational insight with her personal experience of living with physical, mental, and emotional disabilities.
She holds diplomas in Counselling, Diet and Nutrition, Nutritional Therapy, Psychotherapy and Counselling, and Stress Management. Through her writing, Ilana supports others in navigating their emotional, mental, and physical health challenges.
In addition to writing for The CP Diary, her work has appeared in healthy lifestyle magazines.
Ilana is also the author of three books: Cerebral Palsy: A Story – Finding the Calm After the Storm, Spirituality, Healing and Me, and Survival: The Covid Years – Time for Change.
Something inspirational: “Think wrongly, if you please, but in all cases think for yourself.” DORIS LESSING Thinking for yourself means more than having your own opinions. It means owning your words, your choices, and ...
Something inspirational: "We are not what happened to us. We are what we choose to become.” JAMES HOLLIS "I am drawn to James Hollis's words: 'We are not what happened to us. We are what we choose ...
Something inspirational: "Healing begins when we can hold our own experience with compassion." TARA BRACH Brach's quote reminds us that healing begins when we meet our pain with kindness instead of judgement ...
My relationships have always been very one-sided thanks to my mum who brainwashed me into being a caretaker for her and a people pleaser.
I wasn't allowed a relationship with myself so it's no wonder I have had such a hard time having one with others, on more than a superficial basis. She went out of her way to break my spirit and nearly crush my soul in the process of forcing me to be her slave.
I finally believe that I am worthy enough to have a life of my own, even though my mom's voice still rings in my head, albeit a bit quieter than it used to be.
Thanks Randy. Continue to be you, nothing else is needed. The people who love and want to be around you will stay around you. No one is perfect and no-one is in a position to comment or form an opinion about you.
You are worthy in all areas of your life, even more so because even through your experiences, your soul is perfectly in tact. You see what's been done to you, but from your words have never chosen to inflict the pain you've been through on others.
Yes, you've missed out on things when you look back you said you should have done, with reference to your daughter. But we can only do these things if we understand our issues and are good with ourselves.
I have read that we cannot love others until we love ourselves, so when we don’t have a good relationship with ourselves, we can find ourselves in abusive or otherwise unhealthy relationships.
Ultimately it is important that we choose to give our love to people who can accept it and are good for us and who promote our love and well-being back.
My relationships have always been very one-sided thanks to my mum who brainwashed me into being a caretaker for her and a people pleaser.
I wasn't allowed a relationship with myself so it's no wonder I have had such a hard time having one with others, on more than a superficial basis. She went out of her way to break my spirit and nearly crush my soul in the process of forcing me to be her slave.
I finally believe that I am worthy enough to have a life of my own, even though my mom's voice still rings in my head, albeit a bit quieter than it used to be.
Thanks Randy. Continue to be you, nothing else is needed. The people who love and want to be around you will stay around you. No one is perfect and no-one is in a position to comment or form an opinion about you.
You are worthy in all areas of your life, even more so because even through your experiences, your soul is perfectly in tact. You see what's been done to you, but from your words have never chosen to inflict the pain you've been through on others.
Yes, you've missed out on things when you look back you said you should have done, with reference to your daughter. But we can only do these things if we understand our issues and are good with ourselves.
I have read that we cannot love others until we love ourselves, so when we don’t have a good relationship with ourselves, we can find ourselves in abusive or otherwise unhealthy relationships.
Ultimately it is important that we choose to give our love to people who can accept it and are good for us and who promote our love and well-being back.
I have read that too. It's not difficult to understand the logic behind the words. I believe it's true.
I think your last paragraph sums up your response beautifully. If only families, society and the world were like that. We must all and can do better.