Are you thriving or barely surviving, just getting by?

Do you use ‘survival tools’ or unhealthy coping mechanisms to numb your feelings, escape your emotional pain or cope with the challenges of life?

As you’ll know if you’ve followed me for a while or if you’ve watched my recent TEDx talk, I used to rely on a box of survival tools, including binge eating, binge drinking, relationship dramas, compulsive work and endless activity, to avoid feeling my feelings and to numb my fear of people and of living.

This was the legacy of my childhood trauma, of my complex PTSD. I needed to find a way to flee from my feelings, to take me away from all this, to get me out of here.

I needed to find a way to freeze my emotions, to check out from life.

Now, twenty years into my personal development and healing journey, I do my best to feel my feelings rather than numb them, to process my pain rather than run from it and to face life’s challenges without resorting to self-harming survival tools.

It’s not an easy path. It would be easier to continue to numb, escape, get high or check out.

It would be easier to avoid the grown-up things that life throws at me, to sidestep them, to bury my head in the sand.

But I can’t do that anymore. I don’t want to do that anymore, as much as it’s terrifying to face life in a fully awakened state, rather than asleep.

How about you?

Do you feel or do you numb?

Do you face everything, eyes wide open, or escape?

Do you process your pain or avoid it?

Or do you do a little bit of both.

Remember, it’s progress, not perfection.

We are always growing and learning.

And it’s the journey, not the destination.

If you’d like some motivation and inspiration to continue on your journey, to live courageously and as freely as possible, then please take a look at my TEDx talk on ‘Finding Courage, Overcoming Fear and Breaking Free‘ if you haven’t already watched it.

It’s about finding the courage to thrive, not just survive, to live courageously rather than fearfully.

If the talk benefits you, please like it and comment on it as that will help my message to reach more people like you.

Thank you, as always, for your support.

Katherine x

Resources to help you to heal and grow

My first book, How to Fall Love, includes many tools to help you to connect to your feelings and overcome unhealthy patterns. It also tells the story of my personal journey of healing and finding a healthy and loving relationship.

I work 1:1 with clients who are looking to create a healthy romantic relationship and/or build a fulfilling life. Explore my coaching offerings and book a free discovery call on my website.

I have a number of transformational online courses on finding love and self-love. You can find them here.

My TEDx talk on Finding Courage, Overcoming Fear and Breaking Free is here.