Hi, I’m Terri.
Welcome to Journey On Strong.
This little corner of the internet started as a place for me to write about recovery from codependency. More than twenty years later, I realize the journey has become about so much more than that. It has become a journey of healing, growing, and becoming. Learning to trust myself, setting boundaries without feeling guilty, letting go of the need to keep everyone happy, and figuring out what I actually like, want, need, and believe.
Maybe most importantly, it has been about learning how to show up for myself.
How I Got Here
There was a time in my life when I was completely lost. From the outside, everything looked pretty normal. I was good at taking care of people, solving problems, keeping the peace, and pretending I was fine. Inside was a different story. I spent so much time worrying about everyone else’s needs, feelings, choices, and happiness that somewhere along the way, I completely lost track of my own.
For a long time, there wasn’t really a “me.” What did I like? Usually whatever everyone else liked. What did I want? Whatever made everyone else happy. What did I need? I honestly couldn’t have told you.
By 2004, the carefully constructed version of my life started falling apart. In July 2005, at thirty-nine years old, I began learning about codependency, and boy, did I have some learning to do.
I had to learn that loving someone didn’t mean fixing them. Helping didn’t mean rescuing. Boundaries weren’t punishment. Saying no didn’t make me selfish. Another person’s disappointment didn’t automatically mean I had done something wrong.
Those lessons changed my life, but recovery wasn’t the finish line I thought it would be.
It was actually just the beginning.
Who Am I Now?
As the years passed, the question slowly changed from “How do I stop being codependent?” to “Who am I when I’m no longer living my life for everyone else?”
I’ve learned that healing isn’t just about recognizing old patterns. It’s also about discovering what comes next. It’s trying something new simply because you’re curious. It’s changing your mind. It’s realizing that boundaries and walls aren’t the same thing. It’s speaking up when the old version of you would have stayed quiet, taking yourself to coffee, getting on the train, writing the story, and laughing at yourself when life gets completely ridiculous.
Sometimes healing looks surprisingly ordinary. It’s noticing that you handled something differently than you would have five years ago. It’s saying no without spending three days feeling guilty about it. Sometimes it’s simply realizing, “Hey, look at me. I’m actually okay.”
What Journey On Strong Is About Today
Journey On Strong is still about recovery, but today it’s also about everything that comes after you begin finding your way back to yourself.
I write about boundaries, people-pleasing, self-trust, inner child work, relationships, personal growth, getting older, trying new things, navigating hard seasons, gratitude, faith, starting over, and the everyday moments that somehow continue teaching me who I am.
I’m not writing as someone who has everything figured out, because I definitely don’t. I’m still learning, still growing, and still catching myself falling into old patterns. But today, I genuinely like the woman I am becoming.
And that may be one of the greatest gifts this journey has given me.
If You’re Somewhere in the Middle Too…
Maybe you’re just beginning this work. Maybe you’ve been doing it for years. Or maybe you’ve reached a point in your life where you’re simply wondering, “What now?”
You don’t have to have everything figured out before you start moving forward. You can heal and still have hard days. You can love people and have boundaries. You can change your mind. You can outgrow old versions of yourself. And you can begin again at 39, 49, 59, 60, or 80.
There isn’t an expiration date on becoming.
I’m still figuring out what that looks like for me. And if sharing my stories, lessons, mistakes, victories, and occasional “what in the world just happened?” moments helps you feel a little less alone while you’re figuring it out too, then Journey On Strong is doing exactly what I hope it will do.
I’m glad you’re here.
Healing. Growing. Becoming.
Journey On Strong.
If any part of this story feels familiar, you are not alone. Let’s connect!