This is my story. Not perfect or polished, but true.
We were together for almost 30 years and had several children. There were many people around me, yet I was alone among them. No one really saw me; no one seemed to care. I felt life slowly fading inside me, almost dead though still alive. I had to stay alive for my children. They needed me. I was all they had. To my spouse, the children were only in the way.
My days passed one after another, grey and identical. I felt trapped on a treadmill with no way out.
One dark day, my sister called. She wanted to tell me she thought I was a good, lovely person. I believed her words. I began to see myself in a new light. I also began to see things I could do to influence my life. I could choose. I could change things.
This is how it felt: the invisible cage around me was crumbling, piece by piece.
Gradually, I understood something important. I began to see myself differently. I began to see choices and possibilities.
To you, perhaps walking a similar road right now: sometimes, without realising it, we may come to see ourselves only as victims. Yet there are alternatives. You can have a say in your own life.
In my story, I found a better path to walk. Little by little, life began taking me towards brighter places. Colour started returning.
— Gunilla