<p>Jolted awake, I grasped my husband’s chest with a hug that cried, “I’m scared!” Frozen in fear I had difficulty interpreting the sudden alarm. My body was reacting to past trauma, but this time stress wasn’t the trigger (my life is much better now compared to a year ago). It had to be something else: it was memory.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<p>A year ago my body had reached its boiling point and collapsed. Relentless to release culminated stress, I found myself in a panic.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Uncontrollable tears, depraved appetite, and what food I could swallow was quickly rejected. Sleep was only a dream. My body renounced life’s essentials. Of course, I hid this torment as best as I could behind the perfect disguise, a smile. But behind closed doors my body revolted &; shook like an overworked machine &#8211; sparks, smoke and rattling parts grinding against each other. “Listen! Enough is enough!” I lost all control to ‘hold it together.’ For someone with a strong sense of pride, feeling completely out of control was frightening. I was going down and crashing was the only option.</p>
<p>An anniversary is an occasion for celebration. This anniversary is a different one. It marks my surrender. Although today looks very different than a year ago, my mind and body occasionally respond to the past. But I am more frequently met with support and health, and within time I’m replacing fear with trust. I’ll toast this anniversary knowing that like everything of value in this life, it’s a journey branded with both struggle and joy.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<figure id="attachment_1657" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1657" style="width: 667px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img class="alignnone wp-image-1657" src="https://thesoulwhispersblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/img_1289.jpeg" alt="IMG_1289" width="667" height="499" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-1657" class="wp-caption-text">&#8220;What is good in any painful experience is, for the sufferer, his submission to the will of God, and, for the spectators, the compassion aroused and the acts of mercy to which it leads.&#8221; C.S. Lewis</figcaption></figure>
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Not All Anniversaries
