Dear Sherry:

“Vulnerability is something I have always struggled with… What if somebody I know finds this”- you are afraid that someone you know will find this thread, read about you suffering, and his/ her response would be to hurt you even more, to make you suffer more.

“It’s so hard speak my truth when at the core of my being, I am ashamed of who I am”- because people you know shamed you to the core of your being.

“my inner critic and harsh judgment has pulled me down so much”- your inner critic is doing to you what the people you know did (and are doing) to you: hurt you, shame you and harshly judge you.

Who are these people you know who hurt you, shamed you to the core, criticized and harshly judged you?

“My own family.. exploit me.. I see cutthroat competition in a space that was supposed to be safe, my own home, and I am withering, without the love, the attention, the support that I seek from them”.

Isn’t it interesting that you are afraid that someone you know will find your thread and hurt you while all along your family members found you a long time ago, and they have hurt you for a long, long time. I am guessing you are living with them?

(I hope you do answer me. I found you, so to speak, but I will not hurt you).

anita