I was born into a life of chaos and abuse. My alcoholic mother raged and beat all of us kids, knocking our heads against the living room walls while telling us how worthless we were. Add in the molestation, from my father and brother. Finally, to complete the picture – a cockroach-infested house filled with drinking and sex. This is where I started.
Interestingly enough, on some level my mother seemed to have known that I was not meant to continue such a lineage. She named me Risé. It seems that my very salvation was embedded in this name. I learned to rise above all the things that were happening around me. And it is that ability to rise has made all the difference in the life I have been able to create.
How did I change my trajectory? In retrospect I see that I had three rock solid beliefs that kept me moving forward.
The first belief is that life is happening for you, not to you.
In spite of all the things that my family did to me, and even all the things I did to myself – I was a serious abuser of alcohol and drugs until my thirties – I believe that the universe is trying to help me. I believe I am here to learn, and that whatever comes my way is an opportunity for that learning.
I also believe that everything that happens to you is a gift.
Admittedly, not always an easy or pleasant gift, and sometimes a very unfair and even devastating gift, but a gift nevertheless. The family I grew up with was deeply dysfunctional and to this day I can feel like a victim, or not. I joke that I must have been drunk when I picked my parents, but while I have told this joke for many years, it has taken many of those years to be able to truly laugh at it.
The third belief that brings me the capacity to rise is the idea that you can transcend what has happened to you.
If you are willing to take responsibility for your current life, and do the work, there is a path to freedom, and once untethered, you will rise!
In RISE, a Memoir, I share my story with the hope that others who were raised in similar situations or who had other adversities will find hope and their own ability to rise above.
I invite you to find RISE in paperback and for Kindle at Amazon.com.