The friends who stay become part of how we survive and grow. Some friendships begin quietly. No big moment. No dramatic story. Just two kids who happen to find each other and somehow keep choosing each other year after year. My best friend and I have been walking through life together since we were 12... Continue Reading →
Closing the year grounded and moving forward with intention. This post feels a little different, because it marks the final entry in my 52-week blogger challenge. As the year comes to a close and a new one waits just ahead, I find myself less focused on endings and more focused on continuation. This challenge was... Continue Reading →
A declaration of how I choose to live and grow This is not a list of promises meant to impress anyone.This is a declaration meant to anchor me. Recovery did not turn me into someone new.It helped me return to myself, clearer, steadier, and more awake. This manifesto is how I intend to keep living.... Continue Reading →
A Letter to Someone Starting Recovery From someone who has walked the shaky first steps, sat in the messy middle, and learned to trust the journey. If you are reading this, it means something inside you whispered it is time. Maybe it was a quiet knowing. Maybe it was a breakdown that jolted you awake.... Continue Reading →
What I Wish You Knew Before Recovery Dear Younger Me, I wish I could sit beside you for a moment. Not to change your path or warn you about what is coming, but to offer a little comfort for the heaviness you’re carrying. You try so hard to keep everything together, yet so often you... Continue Reading →
How I stopped swimming in other people’s drama pools For the longest time, I misunderstood “detachment.” I thought it meant cutting people off or becoming some kind of emotional robot. No feelings, no problems, right? Wrong. What I’ve discovered is that healthy detachment is not about shutting people out, it’s about keeping my heart open... Continue Reading →
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 →
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 →
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 →
Today I’m Celebrating 20 Years of Recovery from Codependency and People-Pleasing!And yes—I’m throwing confetti (and maybe even dancing a little). Two decades. That’s 240 months, 1,040 weeks, and a whole lot of no’s I had to learn how to say. Today, I’m not just celebrating a milestone—I’m honoring every small, quiet, courageous step it took... Continue Reading →
How I’ve Repaired Relationships Impacted by Codependency (And a Few I Had to Peacefully Let Go) If codependency were an Olympic sport, I would’ve medaled in the early 2000s. Back then, I thought being the “fixer” of every emotional emergency was just what strong, loving people do. Turns out, it was just me subconsciously clinging... Continue Reading →
Journey On Strong 