Overcome the Hard Stuff and Make Room for New Beginnings

If a child grows up in an environment that nurtures and celebrates his or her uniqueness, their identity remains intact. But if the family is toxic or dysfunctional, the child will be forced to prioritize personal safety over authenticity. In an attempt to fit in, true identity gets buried deep within the soul. It hides because it feels unsafe in an environment where being different is unacceptable.Relationships are based on our level of self love and acceptance. When we love ourselves, we expect more from life and relationships. When don't love and accept ourselves, our low self worth makes us have low expectations, lower our standards and accept poor treatment. When we are loved as children, we develop high self esteem and healthy self worth. We go ahead to develop healthy relationships in adulthood and we pursue our dreams with confidence. When we grow up in toxic environments where we don't receive the love that we need, we go into relationships desperately looking for the unconditional love and acceptance that we lacked as children. Personal growth involves letting go of the thoughts and emotions that block our true identity. This boosts our self-confidence and also enables us to filter who we allow into our personal space. It's important to surround yourself with people who love you and believe in you. We thrive in loving environments but develop defense mechanisms to survive, in toxic environments. Toxic relationships make us emotionally amour up to avoid being hurt. This makes it difficult to relate with people who are emotionally healthy. If we wear a mask to hide our true selves and an amour to protect our feelings, we will only be comfortable relating with people who are similar. This creates a cycle of unhealthy relationships. When we're in loving relationships, we begin to release the amour and travel light in the journey of life. No longer bound by lies and defenses that no longer serve us. The word of God tells us the truth about ourselves, people and life. We function best when we believe the truth and let go of the lies that made us question our worth and compromise our identity.