A perfect title for the work that I am doing and for how I try to help the people. Part of what I do to help people is to get to the root cause of why the individual is living an unfulfilled life. I work to help them figure out how their traumas correlate with their unhealthy coping habits of drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling, food, you name it. And in the process, we talk about change and how to break the cycle, by sharing new tools to try. It doesn’t stop there though… I work with folks over time by spending time with them and following up on how the tools are working, what things came up, how are they feeling. We just keep going and going until eventually they decide they want to get better. It’s a pretty amazing process. Not an easy process by any means, and definitely doesn’t happen over night. Some people I have partnered with for years. The amazing part is that I get to watch them get better, in the best of ways. I watch them practice new tools and work on building healthier habits. I watch individuals break the cycle all the time. I watch people be vulnerable and courageous in taking back control of their lives, even when it’s really, really hard. I get to stand side-by-side them when the good, bad and ugly occur. All through just giving them my time and sharing my Experience, Strength & Hope. By letting people know they are not alone in their traumas, they are getting better. And it’s worth be vulnerable to watch another person grow.
Last night I had a pretty incredible conversation with a gal I’ve known now for about 2 years. She is someone who has been struggling with drug addiction for quite a few years now and has even lost her daughter to her family. She has been back and forth in recovery but most recently has been back to using. I’ve been partnering with her by helping talk about the family dynamic, the traumas and sharing new tools to try. I spend my time just listening to her and giving her a listening ear. She called me yesterday to let me know that she is back to being motivated and is not using at this time! She is considering going back to treatment and wants to get her life back in order… she wants to Break the Cycle. We had a really good chat about her family. Her learned behaviors are all she has known the majority of her life. That’s something I can relate with. When what we know comes from our family homes growing up and then all of the traumas alone the way, we learned some pretty poor behaviors that we have been living in most of our lives, and those behaviors take time and a lot of hard work to overcome. I always work to remind folks to be patient and compassionate with themselves because we can’t just change over night. I look forward to working with her further and seeing where she goes. Personally I am an individual who works really hard to overcome my traumas and grow as a person, and I still fall back to my old behaviors from time to time. We are all only human. It’s about Progress, Not Perfection.
I am pretty grateful that I get to be on this journey with folks. They are people I have come to care for. They are community members who turned to coping in ways to help them survive the best they knew how. Part of my goal with this business, is to continue helping people to break the cycle by gaining more trainings and bringing individuals into the candle business to partner with them, helping them find a purpose. I sure have quite the journey ahead of me, that’s for sure. After years of never feeling good enough, I now have to put myself out there and really get this business going. Working with folks and seeing their vulnerability helps me be more courageous. Stay tuned followers!