At what age did you start speaking your mind?

@cherokeepatti wish I had done that. Spent most of my younger years being shy and afraid to speak up.

@Summerbreeze45 I got to the point where I got on my knees and prayed to God. That’s when it started happening. It came out of my mouth but it wasn’t me thinking of the words. I learned that way the art of verbal self-defense.

@cherokeepatti I've been there many times. Very powerful place to be ❤

@Summerbreeze45 I was very scared of my father, he was violent and he drank. I knew he had the capacity to hurt me badly or to murder. I’d hear those words coming out of my mouth and think “Whoa now I’m going to get beat. He’d lower his fist and just stare at me. It wasn’t anything overly disrespectful, just truthful way of saying things and even then it was something I thought would trigger him. It happened so many times that I learned to do it on my own with my own thoughts and words. It served me well even as an adult. A few years later he did murder my mother though. I wasn’t living with them when it happened.

@cherokeepatti I am so so sorry you had to go through this. I thank you so much for sharing this with me. God bless you for the person you have become.

@Summerbreeze45 thank you. I guess I just wanted to say that prayer is a lot more powerful than many people believe. If it could help a 10-year old child survive through long periods of chaos it can help anyone. Have to have a little seed of faith to get started. And then God will work with helping us through it.

@cherokeepatti most definitely! I know it has helped through some if my darkest moments