It has been 15 years since I left the SAFE Program and 15 years since I have SI’d. And yesterday as I was driving along ruminating over these past 15 years and what the difference is it hit me. The key to stopping self-injury is to stop allowing others to injure you or imply that you deserve it because you are somehow less than. Once I realized that I was too valuable to allow myself to be attacked, I also realized that I was too valuable to destroy myself. I no longer allow myself to be minimized and one Thanksgiving when my brother was attacking me I did the unthinkable: I kicked him out! Mind you my Mom owns this house but it is our home so I didn’t kick him out of her house, I kicked him out of my home and that was only if he could not get himself under control.
It is great once I realized that I really am a person of worth, I don’t have to put up with nearly as much garbage as I used too. Even though I am dealing with the same people, it is as if the word has gone out not to mess with me. It is really cool I don’t have everybody “shoulding” all over me anymore.
So if anybody is still in touch with Michelle, tell her thanks, I got it. It took awhile but I did get it, and that is why I had to leave because I got it.
Suzy and Dylan dog