“Healing means losing the identity built around your pain” – @nadiaaddesi
This quote stopped me in my tracks, powerful in its simplicity. It’s so beautifully put.
It reveals two profound truths.
Firstly, it declares that when we are hurting, we build an identity that is different to the one we had before entering the pain. This self-awareness is crucial to understanding healing.
Secondly, it offers hope because reaching the place of healing we so lovingly deserve means parting ways with the identity that’s bound in pain, making room for growth and newness.
In the moment of pain, seeing beyond our hurt feels impossible. “It’s going to be okay” sounds hollow when pain consumes everything. I know this feeling intimately.
But with time, love, and support, we gain perspective. We begin to move away from that all-consuming reality, and eventually, looking back on it feels like watching an old film reel.
We observe our past selves not with judgment but with compassionate understanding – acknowledging an identity that was necessary but never meant to be permanent.
Healing isn’t about erasing pain. It’s about transforming our relationship with it.
