I turned 27 on Father’s Day.

Before I comment on the significance of that I think it’s important to note that Father’s Day has always… irritated me because my father and so many others have decided to just not be one (I know a lot of mothers do the same, but for relevance I will stick to the point). Of course now I realize that it doesn’t matter who ISN’T there, but who IS.

So here’s what’s interesting about 6/16/2013: I didn’t expect to see it. In fact, there was a point in my life where I didn’t want to see it. I didn’t care what was going to happen after March 2009 or September 21, 2011. I just cared about what was happening in the moment, and hated myself for being so weak in those moments. I wanted out.

It wasn’t until later that I realized how those moments of perceived weakness turned out to create an amazing strength I never knew I had. Shortly after that, I was inspired to share that strength with others who need it. The lesson I have learned from these blogs and all the survivor stories here on yourenotfinished.com is that it is only when we are comforted that we can be come comforters; and we can only be comforted when hard times befall us.

In addition to that, we must stay alive to count our past as joyous for the purposes of discovering our true strength and helping others to do the same. Our life stories can’t have any transformative power if we contain them… our scars can’t be healed if we conceal them… our thought processes can’t change without action.

Yes, we have all gone through rough times and yes I am aware that I am understating this more than I probably ever have. Believe me when I say I understand feeling unloved, unwanted, useless, used, washed up, and insignificant. But I also realized that I had to stay alive to discover the true feeling of being loved, wanted, useful, renewed, and full of purpose. Troubles don’t last always; and the thing that is constant is help and support from people who understand your pain and support you just for who you are.

Your chance to get help is here: http://yourenotfinished.com/get-help/

Your choice to use your voice to help others starts here: http://yourenotfinished.com/contact-ynf/

Let’s do this thing called life together, survivors.