I’ve carried this article around with me for years, and it never fails to pick me up after a fall or slump.  The words Veronica wrote here touch abused women to the very core…and enable healing to begin.  Read it, feel it, make it part of your wardrobe…and please pass it on to other women who need the hope of a better life.  Thank you! 

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After a while…you learn

the subtle difference between

holding a hand

and chaining a soul

and you learn…

that love doesn’t mean leaning

and company doesn’t always mean security.

~ 

And you begin to learn

that kisses aren’t contracts

and presents aren’t promises

and you begin to accept your defeats

with your head up high and your eyes ahead

with the grace of a woman

not the grief of a child

and you learn…

to build all your roads on today

because tomorrow’s ground is too uncertain for plans

and futures have a way of falling down in mid-flight.

 ~

After a while you learn…

that even sunshine burns

if you get too much

so you plant your own garden

and decorate your own soul

instead of waiting

for someone to bring you flowers.

 ~

And you learn…

that you really can endure

that you really are strong

and you really do have worth

and you learn…

and you learn…

with every goodbye, you learn.

~by Veronica A. Shoffstall

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