On her Unlocking Us podcast, Brené Brown said: “If you don’t own the story, you can’t write the ending. And if you don’t own the story, the story owns you.”

For a long time, I struggled with shame and fear because of my upbringing. I feared that people would judge me and that I’d be marked for life because of my father’s behavior. The alcohol, drugs, and violence—I didn’t think I could ever escape my past. So I came up with the brilliant idea of burying my pain of the past and moving on.

That didn’t work.

What helped me is owning where I came from, what I suffered, and taking control of who I wanted to be.

I needed to stop seeing myself as the abandoned and unloved children, but worthy of a happy and fulfilling life.

What is your story?

What weight hangs around your neck and pulls you down?

When you own your story, you then get to choose a different ending. The child of an alcoholic doesn’t have to grow up to be an alcoholic. The victim of sexual abuse does not need to feel broken. What happened to us as kids is not stamped on our foreheads for all time. We are not what happened to us. We are so much more.

The road to healing and fulfillment starts with our owning our story.

I am an adult child of an alcoholic. All that I saw and experienced does not fully define who I am today. I own my past and I am writing my future.

Let go of shame, guilt, and fear. Embrace your present and the amazing future you have ahead of you.

Instead of being beaten down, broken, and weak, let’s embrace our past and rise up to own who we truly are: Worthy of love and happiness.

I used to be afraid that someone would see my real secret. But now I am rising up and embracing all of who I am.

Will you join me?

Like what you’ve read? Be sure to check out my other posts in my Let Go and Be Free blog.