I've been reading Untamed by Glennon Doyle and I was struck by one of her chapters this week. She shares about her own journey to therapy as a teen to treat her bulimia and how she felt the adults in her life thought she was broken. Glennon recognizes that she was/is not broken, but that the air she's been breathing has been toxic. I was in awe reading this.
So many of the teens I have worked with over the years feel like something is wrong with them as if they might be broken. Heck, I felt like I was broken as a teen. I felt ugly. I felt lonely. I felt like no one understood me. I felt lost. I still feel this way somedays.
I'm not broken and neither are you. We do struggle with breathing in unhealthy air. We breathe in the air of social media that is only focused on the perfect image, perfect body, and perfect way of being. We breathe in the opinions and judgments of our peers and assume what they think is what is best for us. We breathe in the expectations of our parents and try to live a life that meets them even if it is not the life we dream or want.
So what happens as we breathe in all this air? We begin to have self-doubt, self-hatred, and we choose to care for ourselves in unhealthy ways.
So how do we change this air we breathe? We start within, we start with being vulnerable and digging into who we want to be. We start to listen to our own voice and give it space to be heard. We name our hopes, our wants, and our desires. We lift the weight of everyone else off our shoulders so we can stand taller, wiser, and stronger.
If you want to breathe healthy, life-giving air, then my teen support group may be a great place to start. We will meet every 2 weeks beginning March 10th, 2021 to work through the unhealthy air you have been breathing and begin to create space for the healthy, life-giving air. Send me an email today to sign up: racheleldertherapy@gmail.com
