Keep moving forward

by Peter Twitchell

Domestic violence is real, it’s also scary. The violence we see in our homes is fueled by anger, resentments, and fear. Most of us grew up in one room dwellings with nowhere to escape to. We witnessed it all – the assaults and battery, the yelling, and the ugliness of drunken behavior in our homes.

When we are exposed to violence on a regular basis, I believe the mind gets desensitized to living in a chaotic environment.

I’ve had loved ones beaten by men with no sense of remorse or guilt, because the next day they acted like nothing ever happened.

This is the scariness of living in a dark world. You can’t see, you can’t hear, and you can’t speak, and you don’t know. The vicious violence repeats itself over and over again.

Someone gets hurt emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually. We put away the hurt and hide it, where it never sees the light of reality.

The abused have an addiction too, to the mate, husband, boyfriend who beat them down to the ground, and sometimes six feet under the ground. The abused weep hoping things will get better, but life only gets worse. The damage has been done.

We grow up to follow in our dad’s footsteps, that lead us nowhere, but down the same dark path. Hurting, cheating, damaging and wounding the emotions, mind, body, and spirits of our innocent children.

When we stop to piece together our brokenness we begin to get a picture, not a clear one, but an image we start to work on to improve.

It’s lifelong work, through blood, sweat and tears to fix ourselves. Along our drunkeness journey in the life we chose we hurt not only five people close to us. It’s going to take a lifelong effort to come to grips the hurt and pain that’s been done. We have to learn to love ourselves in order to love another human being.

To love life and embrace it, and all its goodness. We need to learn to forgive and forget. And, not dig up old bones to beat ourselves up and others.

Learn to live in the moment, and move forward. Don’t worry about tomorrow, it’ll get here soon enough, and when it does live it to its fullest.

Respect yourself and respect all living things. Respect man’s and God’s laws.