I've lived through tremendous loss. I've known pain that took my breath away, struggle that tested everything I had, and setbacks that made me question whether I'd get back up. I've also known triumph, victory, and moments of grace I didn't see coming.
Maybe you know the feeling too. Smiling through a workday while your heart is breaking. Lying awake at 3 a.m. replaying a conversation. Being strong for everyone else and wondering who's going to be strong for you. Feeling judged when what you needed was to be held.
Somewhere along the way, I realized something: none of us are as alone as we feel. We walk different roads and carry different stories, but underneath it all, we're the same. We hurt, we hope, we fall, we rise. We're connected in ways that go deeper than circumstance.
I've also learned that pain has a way of holding on. When someone hurts us, it's natural to carry that anger, sometimes for years. We replay it, relive it, and feel it all over again as if it happened yesterday. But holding on to resentment doesn't punish the person who hurt us. It keeps us chained to the moment that hurt us. Forgiveness isn't saying what happened was okay, and it doesn't mean letting anyone back in who hasn't earned it. It's choosing, when you're ready, to set that weight down so you can finally heal. It's something you do for you. And sometimes the hardest person to forgive is yourself.
SBHAHE is the place I needed and couldn't find. It's somewhere to set down what you're carrying without being judged for it, and to remember that being human isn't a failure. It's the whole point.
You don't have to have it all together to belong here. You just have to be willing to breathe.
You are a spiritual being having a human experience. So am I. Welcome.
— SBHAHE
(pronounced SA-BA-HEE)