You Are Not Broken

I used to think that the reason there were different parts of me was because I had been broken. I believed that my mind had been shattered by early-childhood trauma and that, until the pieces were fit back together properly, I would never be healthy or whole again.

For years, many well-meaning therapists instilled this in me. They patiently explained how the mind, in a heroic effort to protect its core self, will split apart in times of great trauma. These splits can become more pronounced if the person is very young or the trauma is especially intense.

I was reassured that this was a highly intelligent and evolved survival technique but the message was still, always, “You have parts because you were broken.”

And I bought it. It made sense. It explained why I had raging arguments going on inside my mind. Why it seemed like there were different voices with unique agendas residing within me. Why self debasing criticisms and doubts pervaded my thoughts daily.

Until I realized I was perfectly normal.

Well, normal in its most figurative sense. In reality, there can only ever be one normal person walking the planet at any given time. The rest of us each fall somewhere on the bell curve of “above normal” and “below normal.”

I have met people with full-blown split personality disorder. I’ve had conversations with six distinctly different people while only two of us sat in the room.

I’ve also worked with dozens of people who experienced no significant trauma in their life and have never been diagnosed with any personality disorder.

But every single person I’ve ever worked with, spoken to or shared this with has been able to instantly relate.

Every single one of us has those old stories and nasty messages running through our heads. Some of us know where they came from, others don’t. That’s not important. What’s important is that…

Each of us has the power to rewrite them.

Because this is the True Story: You are perfect, whole and complete just as you are in this moment.

Nothing is broken in you.

Nothing is wrong with you.

You are love.

And you are loved.