Finding Confidence in Knowing You are not Alone

Do you ever feel like you are completely alone because no one understands you?

not aloneAfter a few years of working full time as a hairdresser I began having back problems. Here I was in my prime of life ending each day in excruciating pain. I felt like such a wimp!  My co-workers and clients thought I was, too, because I would complain about my pain, but continue to work hard so I looked like a hypochondriac. If it was really that bad, why wouldn’t I stop?

Looking back, I can tell you that I was trying to prove to myself that I was stronger than I felt but at the time I didn’t understand myself or my pain. I just felt weak and foolish. In reality, I was desperate for comfort and validation. I needed to know I was not crazy, that my pain was real and that I would get better.

A doctor’s visit gave me the validation I needed–I wasn’t crazy, I had a ruptured disc in my neck. After reporting back to my boss, she told me how she, too, had blown a disc and had been on bed rest for a long time before she could work again.

I suppose her story could have scared me into giving up on my career, but it didn’t. Instead, it empowered me to begin treatment and get better. It gave me comfort to know someone understood my pain.

Sometimes we just need to know that we are not alone. If someone else can make it through what we are facing, so can we! Talking about our problems is not enough. Unless we are looking for answers, we may be looking like a hypochondriac. If you are in need of comfort or validation today, I encourage you to find someone who has made it through where you are, share your heart with her and remember, you are not alone.

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Catrina Welch is an inspirational author and speaker whose personal experience with overcoming rejection, betrayal and loss–as well as her expertise as a cosmetologist, image consultant and Biblical life-coach–is empowering women to BE and LET BE.

Her latest book, CONFIDENT BEAUTY: Reflecting the One Who Made You, with the Images in your Mirror and in your Soul, is now available in your favorite bookstores. Autographed copies of all her books are available on her website at www.CatrinaWelch.com


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