Personal Growth Planet Blog

I’m just as surprised and angry about the ignorant and insensitive remarks Republican State Representative Pete DeGraaf of Kansas made recently.

As the Kansas state legislature attempts to whittle away at a woman’s right and support to make her own reproductive choices– including abortion– DeGraaf callously compared being raped to having a flat tire.

Perhaps he didn’t literally mean it.

Maybe he inadvertently chose an unfortunately cruel analogy to argue his position that insurance policies should not cover abortions for women who are left pregnant after a rape, unless of course they “plan ahead” for a rape pregnancy by pre-purchasing “abortion-only coverage.”

Pretty much every one of us has some (or many) old wounds that we carry around. Long ago, or more recently, we were “wronged” or hurt in some way and we just can’t seem to get over it.

Forgiveness is one very effective and powerful way to heal those wounds…or so we’ve probably been told.

The trouble with forgiveness is it is such a loaded concept!

There’s a definite connotation that posits forgiveness as the “right” or compassionate thing to do for another person. Religious teachings might have helped cement this self-less understanding of forgiving in your mind; they have for me.

By Amy Phillips-Gary

Way too many of us have experienced trauma in our pasts.

It looks different for us all, but the effects can be quite similar.

When trauma happens, it almost always leaves a mark. This can be a deep and multi-layered wound that never seems to fully heal.

The challenge for those of us who are survivors of trauma is to recognize where we are and what has happened, but not get so caught up in the past that we remain stuck there.