Tuh! Afraid of what—or whom? Sharing Your Story is Not for the Weak.

Tuh! Afraid of what—or whom? I’m about to tell almost every single 👏 scandalous 👏 detail 👏 in the days ahead. 👀😔💔😡🤷🏽‍♀️🫢🤣

But seriously—sometimes the scariest thing you can do is share your story. Telling the world what you’ve been through can feel intimidating for a lot of reasons. Maybe you’re afraid of being judged while you’re vulnerable. Maybe you worry about how the people in your story will react—when, truthfully, they are the source of your pain.

You don’t owe anyone the courtesy of hiding or whitewashing your story to protect the ones who hurt you. It’s your story. Yes, sometimes you do have to be mindful—abusers and toxic people can try to retaliate when you speak up. But one of the most powerful ways to protect yourself is by telling the truth. Speaking truth reclaims your power. It breaks the control others once had over you.

And honestly, social media can be a powerful place for that. While plenty of people use it for outlandish storytelling, you can use it with purpose—to draw people in, to help others through. Help them through the hard seasons, their dark nights of the soul, through despair and hopelessness. When we share our stories, we admit we don’t have it all together, that sometimes life hits hard—but we also become symbols of strength to others. Those symbols might be the hope someone needs to believe in a better tomorrow.

Don’t be afraid of what man can do to you. If God be for you, who can be against you?
I’ve leaned on that scripture many times as I’ve started unpacking a traumatic relationship experiences—and even manipulation and deception that followed right after my mother passed away. It was steeped in emotional manipulation and deception, and the harm continued even after that relationships ended

Through counseling, I began to grieve not only my mother but also the betrayal—the pain of being harmed by a man, minister, I trusted. I found healing in hearing others’ stories of survival and in remembering that God had my back, even when someone tried to silence me. That’s where I found the courage to tell my truth without fear—because God is for me. And that’s all the reminder I need to keep pushing forward.

Knowing that God is for you—and hearing others’ stories, like the one below—can help you keep pushing too.

This story reminds us that our past does not determine the rhythm of our future. While past experiences inevitably shape us, they don’t have to misshape us or leave us broken. That’s the power of our stories—our testimonies—as we move from merely surviving to flourishing, or even simply finding our way through life.

That’s why when I see videos encouraging people to share their stories, it resonates so deeply. What’s the point of being afraid to talk about what you’ve made it through? Your story might be someone else’s lifeline. Sharing is freeing. It’s healing. It’s powerful—for you and for others.