I grew up in a high demand religion aka cult. I married a “righteous” man and lived for almost 2 decades being emotionally abused, manipulated, gaslighting, and coercively controlled. We built a life together with me supporting the entire foundation of it. Kids, careers, houses, everything. I left the cult 4 years ago. A year ago my “righteous” husband and I separated.

I am finally starting to realize what I actually went through. I let someone break me down to the point that me, the strong and fearless woman, believed I wasn’t worthy of love. I told myself “I must be really hard to live with.”

I am not a martyr. I am not a victim. I am a fucking survivor.

I will never EVER let anyone treat me that way again.

Don’t ever let an abuser chip away at your soul. You’re worth WAY more than that.