Encouragement for the Codependent
Or in other words...How I Protect My Peace While Supporting Others There was a time when I thought empathy meant giving everything I had, my time, my energy, my emotional reserves, until there was nothing left for me. I’d walk away from conversations drained, resentful, and sometimes even a little lost in someone else’s pain.... Continue Reading →
Learning to step back so others can step into their own strength I’m just going to be honest here… it wasn’t until I was almost 40 that I even knew what enabling meant. For most of my life, I thought helping someone was one of the many ways you showed love. I was a fixer,... Continue Reading →
There’s something powerful about carving out a life that is fully your own, one that reflects your values, desires, and personal growth. It’s easy to fall into patterns or expectations that come from others or from the world around you, but crafting a life that’s truly yours takes conscious effort, self-awareness, and, above all, courage.... Continue Reading →
I wish I could say my recovery only moves forward, but this week reminded me that healing sometimes takes a sharp detour. One phone call turned into a full-blown emotional flashback, and before I knew it, I was reacting like the person I used to be, not the one I’ve worked so hard to become.... Continue Reading →
How I Learned to Embrace My Own Company The timing of this topic couldn’t be better. Just last night, I came across a social media post that spoke directly to this, and it really hit home. I’ll share it at the end of this post. There was a time when being alone felt like torture.... Continue Reading →
Letting Go of Who I Thought I Had to Be Back in the day, I used to think I was authentic. I really did. I believed I was being real with myself and others because I was so deep in my codependent patterns, I couldn’t see that I was about as fake as they come.... Continue Reading →
Rediscovering Who I Am Outside of Codependency For a long time, I didn’t really know where I ended and everyone else began. I was a master adapter, shifting who I was depending on who I was with, what they needed, or what I thought they expected. I confused people-pleasing with kindness and lost myself in... Continue Reading →
Reconnecting the Dots: Mind, Body, and Spirit in My Recovery For most of my life, I lived in my head. My thoughts were constantly spinning, analyzing, anticipating, overthinking, people-pleasing, worrying about how I was being perceived, and running imaginary conversations on loop like a bad sitcom rerun. My body? Ignored. My spirit? I wasn't even... Continue Reading →
Navigating Relapses in Codependency Recovery When Old Habits Creep Back In I wish I could tell you that once you start healing from codependency and people-pleasing, those old habits pack their bags, wave goodbye, and head off into the sunset forever. But let’s be real — they’re more like that neighbor who occasionally shows up... Continue Reading →
Letting Go of Deep-Rooted Resentment: Releasing the Weight I Didn’t Know I Was Carrying For a long time, I didn’t even realize what I was feeling was resentment. I just figured feeling frustrated or a little bitter was normal. I didn’t really see that I was carrying it around like an invisible backpack I had... Continue Reading →
Healing the Subconscious Mind: Changing the Scripts That Once Controlled Me If you had asked me years ago whether I had deep-rooted subconscious patterns running my life, I would have confidently said no. I was just trying to help everyone, that’s all. That was the first clue. On my blog, JourneyOnStrong.com, I have shared a... Continue Reading →
Evolving Boundaries Over Time: How My Lines Shifted as I Grew When I first started my recovery from codependency, I thought boundaries were just walls you put up to keep people from hurting you. I imagined them as invisible force fields that kept everyone at a painful distance. Honestly, I wasn’t wrong for where I... Continue Reading →
Journey On Strong 