Introduction To
Your 3 Doors
Hope
“HOPE follows the healing journey from surviving to thriving through the passage of three doors. First, you will cross the threshold of Surviving: a physically, emotionally, and spiritually raw and exposed phase of life. Next, you will enter into the transformational phase of Rebuilding: creating life again, beginning to glimpse new possibilities. And finally, there arrives Thriving: living empowered, and opening to love and being loved after trauma. These are doors I had to pass through in my own recovery from a violent attack.
I suggest the first time you read this book, go all the way through, start to finish. After that, you can pick a page at random, or from the section you feel you are moving through on days when you need inspiration or uplifting. Re-read it when you experience another setback in life, as we all do. Life is cyclical and ever evolving. I pray we will never again experience the deep traumas that forever changed us, and that we learn to ride the waves through the sea of life taking shelter in the restoration of safety and empowerment within us.”
- Excerpt from Hope: Surviving To Thriving After Trauma
Door One
They asked her, ‘How did you free yourself?’ She answered, ‘By embracing my own power.
Yung Pueblo
“No matter the degree of your trauma, there is an initial phase that can only be called Survival. You may feel that you are just going through the motions of life. You may not even feel present or grounded in your body. That is okay.
This is the time to go back to basics, so you can just get through the day. Back to basics might mean taking a shower; eating a meal; staying hydrated; getting out of bed to get sunshine, fresh air, or a walk if you can.”
- Excerpt from Hope: Surviving To Thriving After Trauma
Door Two
The secret of change is to focus all your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.
Socrates
You may be facing a confusing period of rebuilding trust in yourself and in the world. You may also feel lost, stuck somewhere between where you want to be and a past you want to leave behind.
If life feels flat, like it has lost its aliveness, color and essence, remember, you are in repair. You are a butterfly who is just emerging and starting to spread her wings. Give yourself a little more grace and gentleness. Transformation takes time. It asks us to walk straight through the pain—there are no shortcuts to healing. Blocking or suppressing your feelings does not make them go away. It just prolongs the time until you can be healed of them and experience true joy.
You are going to get through those doors. Happiness will return, like you’ve never known it before. You are resilient and you have the ability to persevere. You will emerge from this empowered, with more strength and wisdom than ever before.”
- Excerpt from Hope: Surviving To Thriving After Trauma
Door Three
Love is the key that opens the door to everything.
Unknown
“Expansion and transformation are possible. Trust yourself. Trust your inner voice. Listen to the messages you are receiving. You will love again in a deeper, more profound way than you ever have before with your family, your parents, your children, your friends, your beloved, and your own beloved within.
The quotes and poems featured in this section have helped me to intentionally and thoughtfully open my heart again to real love. Expansive love. A love greater and deeper than I ever knew before the trauma. It began with loving myself.
Welcome home to the true beloved that resides within each one of us.”
- Excerpt from Hope: Surviving To Thriving After Trauma
