LIVING LIFE OUT LOUD by authorsuebrown.net

We live in a world of constant and often frightening change and never know of our tomorrow (s). I often ask myself … what will tomorrow bring! Will I have a blessed day with no worries or sickness upon me? Will I be able to cope with what will be passed to me through my day? Will I make a difference?

Finally, it dawns on me that I am so blessed to just be able to wake up and open my eyes each and every morning. I get to experience glorious Life, yet again. I should treasure each day and make everyday day count in my life.

We must not dwell on the past and ruin our present. Our past sometimes can haunt us and make our present day not too enjoyable. If your own past has haunted you and it’s fixable, then go after the problem and resolve it, so that you can live in peace. If it cannot be fixed, then choose to let it go.

As time and moments pass us by, they are then called memories and can be either positive or negative. We all want to have in our lives the best and happiest memories. None of us want to have bad memories of anything, but unfortunately, we will have many of them and disappointments to go along with them. It’s good to put everything in perspective.

I try to live everyday to the fullest and make each day count because there is no guarantee to the length of our individual times on Earth. In my journey, there have been acquired lessons of great value. Treat all people with respect and kindness. Turn the other cheek as hard as it might be. Learn to love and respect yourself, because without that, you will have a hard time loving and respecting others.

Really appreciate what you have in your Life and don’t take anything for granted. We can all improve the quality of our existence with some extra hard work to achieve a personal goal. However, if that goal is not achieved, the gain is in the personal knowledge that all effort was put forth in the venture of trying.

I try to make it a habit to glance into the sky and say thanks for all things in Life… exactly as given. My days are rewarding; yet challenging, happy; while melancholy at times, enlightening; even at this point in my life, and exhausting; while at the same time… I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Each day we experience is as different and individual as each one of us. May we all choose to live it well.

SPIRIT UNBROKEN: A Journey of Hope, Survival, and Beating the Odds

Although SRIRIT UNBROKEN appears to be a novel, the story is true. It is a work of non-fiction, a history that needed to be told. In my personal "sharing" it is hoped that others might gain even the smallest amount of comfort and possibly guidance from my own journey and experiences. There is the chance that you might recognize similarities to your own youth. Most assuredly, you know someone with a similar background. I am anyone; unfortunately, I am everywhere. I share my story for everyone that cannot tell his or hers.


This writing is an open acknowledgement to a childhood existence that was far from normal and healthy. There are times that are still beyond any understanding and explanation… and are left unspoken, even now. However, the message within these pages is positive and hopefully healing for those who need to close the open wounds…forever. This is a journey of human spirit and hope.

Identifying can be on many levels.The numbers of people in America who have not been able to acknowledge their own difficult or abusive childhoods are far greater than the published statistics. So many generations were silent then and remain so, today. Our Society as a whole, only recently increased both its effort and awareness to help protect its children. It’s been years in coming. We are finally becoming aware of its epidemic proportions.


The published statistics of children that have grown up in families where abuse of any kind: physical, emotional, or sexual exists, as well as children growing up in homes that are Dysfunctional…is staggering. Today, in one year alone, child protective service agencies investigate almost three million reports alleging maltreatment of children.


The prevalence of Child Abuse statistically is far greater than most would believe. In just one area alone, Sexual Abuse, one in four girls, or twenty-five percent are sexually abused before the age of fourteen! One in six boys, or roughly seventeen percent are sexually abused before the age of sixteen! Americans, for the most part, are unaware of these facts.


There are approximately 60 million survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse in the United States, today. Mathematically, that represents almost one fifth of the total population of the 2000 Census. The median age for reported abuse is 9.9 years for boys and 9.6 years for females. Sadly, only one child in ten ever tells of the sexual abuse. Fabrication of abuse amazingly occurs in only one to four percent of all reported cases.


Consequences of a negative and abusive childhood affect our society. Excessive drug and alcohol abuse is reported by seventy to eighty percent of survivors. Young girls who have been abused are more likely to develop eating and psychiatric disorders. Among male survivors, more than three- quarters have a history of substance abuse, more than one- half had suicidal thoughts, one quarter attempted suicide and more that two thirds received psychological treatment. And if all this weren’t enough, thirty one percent of males victimized…go on to victimize others!


My story is candidly told to both enlighten and alert not to sensationalize. Childhood Abuse is a disease that our society can cure and prevent. It knows no boundaries within Racial, Economic, and Social groups. There are no clear- cut definitions as to what is and isn’t abuse. If the action is harmful to the child, it is unhealthy and abusive. This is a disease that does not call for extensive scientific research looking for a cure.


Rather, it is a disease that elicits recognition and commitment on the part of all responsible adults. Early recognition, acknowledgement, and subsequent intervention are necessary. However, the abused, as well as the abuser, need rehabilitation after that point or the cycle perpetuates itself and the statistics remain a constant. Once the abuse stops…it is far from over, as the startling figures above indicate.

The consequences of Childhood Abuse affect the quality of life for everyone in our country, not just its survivors. Its effects are far-reaching and negative. Statistics strongly support that fact. My God-given spirit and attitude are the exception for those that are abuse survivors…the overwhelming majority of its victims are not nearly so fortunate.   Amazingly, I have beaten all the odds.

We Alone Are Responsible for Our Lives

It is so easy in life to forget that we are responsible for our own success, happiness, and inner-peace. It is often easier to blame others than to own up to our personal failures. Many people I speak with have difficulty in this area. It is always someone else's fault that they didn't get the promotion at work. It is because of a difficult childhood (past or present)that they are unhappy or not accomplishing what God put them on Earth to accomplish. Or...the most powerful to overcome is a lack of inner-peace. Often, this lack consumes all energies and thought. "Why can't I be happy?"

The answer is rather straight forward and so simple that it might elude us at first. We give happiness to ourselves by accepting equal amounts of credit for a job well done and at the same time, owning up to human errors in judgement and personal failure. Epiphany! It is not necessary to be perfect, but what is necessary is to step up to the plate and accept responsibility for our actions and place in life. If we are not happy where we are in life, who we have become, and what we are doing...we need to change...not the world around us. Be pro-active in these areas and success, happiness, and inner-peace will follow. Amazing Grace. sue

Defying the Odds... is not just for the President

I had an epiphany several months back, when I watched the Inauguration of our country's 44th President. Everything in our given lives is about coming from a place of impossible odds and overcoming those challenges as they are presented. For our new President, Barack Obama and his family, it's not really about them being the first African American family to inhabit the White House, but rather that they "defied the odds" in doing so. I liked that. It is how I described my own journey in overcoming Child Abuse. I defied the odds as well, in that I am whole and healthy in spirit, but there are many of us ... in many areas. All of us face some test of defying the odds at some point. Whether it's overcoming current or past abuse, financial and/or emotional tests, drug and alcohol addiction or any number of other things...if we defy the odds...we win!

In my book, I write about how blessed I feel, that in spite of my background...I am relatively unscathed. When I think about it further, I know that it was also positive action on my part. When we overcome statistical odds in our own lives and come out better on the other side...we are "Obama" in our own right. No one chooses to be an Abused Child. Similarly, no one gets to choose their birth parents, sex, skin color, or even nationality. The mere fact that we arrive on this Earth as humans, at all ...is somewhat of a statistical miracle. We arrive from the fertlization of a single sperm finding a single egg. That's defying the odds right there in our own birth.

In this great country of the United States, we also get to choose other things that we take for granted; freedom of speech and freedom of religion are just two. We saw it in action during this past campaign. There are more. We have the freedom to leave our own negative choices and pasts behind us at any time. We have the freedom to pursue an education, and take it to the highest level, similar to our new president, and therefore secure good employment. We have the freedom to help others and give generously of ourselves to make America a better place for all. That follows that we can be a country of givers and not takers. This applies to all of us. It appears we are off to a start in that direction...maybe for the first time. We also have the freedom to stop whining about what we don't have, can't do, or don't like...and make our own changes. The new administration is not going to pay our rent/mortgage, lower gas/food prices, and cure all the other issues facing our country.

When I think of the slogan "Time for a Change" it means that we all have to change in some personal area; this is not a slogan for the new administration alone. Defy the odds, overcome your own challenges and become better with each day. In America, all things are possible. Sue

April is National Child Abuse Month; The Great Equalizer...CHILD ABUSE!

Abuse does not discriminate by gender, age, religion, ethnicity, or social status. Indeed, it really is the one time that: ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL.

It can be delivered to the offended by sexual, physical, emotional, or verbal abuse. Each and every one of these types of abuse is equally as damaging to our self-esteem, our souls, or our physical being...if we let it prevail. Whether we are being abused now or have been abused in the past, it in no way defines either who we are... or who we are able to become. We are what we choose for ourselves; we are not defined by what has been said or done to us!

The road is wide open, but it is up to us to take the first step. The abuser can not love themselves, therefore they are unable (or unwilling) to love us. It is never because we are unworthy of being loved. But do we love ourselves? Today, is a good day to start. Be a person that is admired by being a person who values his/her own self-worth.


May blessings and strength find you.

Bucket List vs. Living List

Thanks to the recent movie, BUCKET LIST, many people are now, more than ever, trying to scratch off their own dreams and wishes in life, before their individual time here on earth expires.

My own thoughts and methods in this regard are more in the line of: Why would an individual ever wait to experience the riches of life? One need not have an expensive or lengthy list to experience LIFE'S amazing gifts. We just need to slow down and recognize LIFE for the precious gift that it is all on its own. It's as simple to me as just appreciating the small things each day, which we so often overlook because we are too busy or we yearn for something greater and grander. Actually, actively "living," each day to its fullest, is pretty amazing all on its own! The sun as it is setting in the western sky on a glorious evening, the extra hour of sleep curled up next to the one we love on our day off, a walk in God's glorious kingdom be it the mountains, deserts, or waters can be enjoyed by all. Even city streets have a magic if you choose to look for it.

These simple things are there for the taking, yet how many of us really make an effort to recognize them for what they are? So, here's what I'm suggesting:

Each day this week, write down at least one thing you did that day that you normally would have taken for granted. At the end of the week, you have a wonderful LIVING LIST. Maybe, this is better than a "bucket list!" Try it; what is there to lose?

Life is good. Sue

GIVING

I LIKE TO GIVE. Giving of myself in any fashion makes me feel good and the recipient(s) benefit too. It is a win:win situation for all. I'm not a saint, I do know that, but rather I see it more like a healing technique that I've learned over the years to help myself heal from my own hurtful past. Then, it just became a really good habit that I've continued for many years. We don't often look at it that way. You know..."giving" as medicine, but it really is. I know many give in church or to a special organization in financial ways. That is truely wonderful. BUT, what I'm proposing is that we can also give in small ways each and every day and they are not always financial gifts. Sometimes, what I give is "time." Sometimes, it's my "help." Sometimes it actually is financial help...but to a total stranger. In today's society, everyone welcomes that kind of gift and it is usually much needed. And, as anyone who knows me will tell you...I always give my advice. (I let out a loud roar as I wrote that because it is so true!) But my favorite gifts are gifts that noone knows about... but the "giver." Sometimes, it's as simple as pulling someone's garbage can back up their driveway or picking up the mis-thrown newspaper and putting it by their neighbor's door. Perhaps, grabbing a garbage bag and collecting trash in a much used area of your neighborhood. Other times, it's taking not only your own shopping cart back to the store, but a few others too or picking up that garment or product that's on the store's floor, that keeps getting either stepped on... or over. These are random acts of kindness. We do them not for the "thanks" that normally follows each of us doing something nice; we do them because they make the world a better place for others. However, what I guarantee is that IF you choose to be a giver, it will be you who is receiving the greatest gift. You have my word. sue