Five Card Story: Discovery of My Authentic Self

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a Five Card Flickr story by Reena Desai created Jun 18 2023, 07:44:20 am. Create a new one!


flickr photo credits: (1) bionicteaching (2) Serenae (3) bionicteaching (4) Intrepidteacher (5) bionicteaching


about this story

Once upon a time, a little girl was told that was only one way to live a successful life as a woman. To be successful meant to be pretty, slender, get good grades in school, not challenge authority, get married to a medical doctor shortly after earning a 4-year college degree in a math or science-related subject, and finally have kids. That was it. That was her goal in life because she was born a girl. As time went on and this little girl continued to get negative messages from her family and society about being worthy enough to be loved unless she looked a certain way and behaved a certain way. She lost her authentic self because she wanted to please her family. She tried to be good enough. She wanted to be accepted and loved.

Time went on. This little girl got hurt many times in her life. This little girl eventually became a teenage girl. This teenage girl got hurt many times. This teenage girl eventually became a young 20-something college student. This young woman got hurt many times too. After being hurt so many times in life by so many people, she only focused on her career and education. This driven focus resulted in developing a very successful career, earning multiple college degrees, and being 100% financially independent. She can do anything she wants, whenever she wants. She has total freedom…

Yet she feels like she left her parents down because she never got married and had kids. She feels disconnected. She wants to have close friendships yet fears friendships breaking apart as they have several times in her past. The breakup of a friendship feels worse than a breakup of a romantic relationship. She is now in her 40s and ready to figure out who she really is rather than who others want her to be.

It’s like she’s got a clean Etch A Sketch to redesign her life however she wants. Like an Etch A Sketch, she can mess up, shake the board to clear it up, try again, and be okay with whatever happens as she finds her authentic self. She needs to get in touch with her inner child, who used to dream her own dreams at night before she was told that her own dreams were not good enough. She will make it a personal mission to convince her inner child that she was always good enough and deserves the best in life no matter what she looks like. She now starts a brand-new journey of self-discovery, self-love, and self-acceptance. It won’t be an easy journey to recovery, but it will be worth it!

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flickr photo credits: (1) bionicteaching (2) Serenae (3) bionicteaching (4) Intrepidteacher (5) bionicteaching

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