Shout It From The Mountaintop

In December of last year, my friend wrote to different media outlets about my life.  At the time, I wanted to be happy and feel honored to have my life story in the newspaper, but you have no idea the amount of angst I was feeling.  I kept thinking – why me? What makes me so special, who would want to write about me, what have I done so special?  Really I wanted someone to tell me, why would someone want to write about little ol’ me, I hadn’t gone through anything different than many other former and present foster youth.  Of course, I’ve had my share of physical, emotional, sexual and psychological abuse, but in our foster youth cohort, who hasn’t.  Even if you haven’t experienced any type of physical abuse, the emotional toll of being in the child welfare system is sometimes the worst pain of all.  So again…why me?

Are You Making Time For You?

I didn't always feel being alone was better (the sentiments which I expressed in my previous post).  In fact, in the past when a person penetrated the wall built around my heart (a battle), I did all that was within my power to keep that relationship afloat. And while that is not in and of itself a bad thing, I often did it at the expense of keeping myself afloat. Before I go further, understand that I stand firmly behind my previous post, but, at the risk of sounding contradictory, I think we must strive for a balance. On one hand, I definitely believe that having and keeping supportive and loving people in your life as a foster youth is important, but on the other hand, I think it is just as, if not more important, to keep yourself as a top priority because otherwise what kind of friend, girlfriend, boyfriend, foster/adopted child can you expect to be if you are not the best you that you can be.  And as always, I think this is especially important during the precious years when you are preparing for and going through your emancipation.