War-zone

Change is hard for people who grew up in a war zone most of their life, where everywhere you turn isn’t a safe place, from home, church, school, and even romantic partnerships to friendships. I grew accustomed to chaos; abuse was normalized to me by my oppressors. Trust and confidence weren’t options around a bunch of broken, toxic people who betrayed me. Running and telling my attackers I spoke up, to see me hurt, was a risk I couldn’t afford; I already had enough knives in my back.