Your Neverbrokenness

Breaking the Myth That Anyone Can Ever Truly Break Us 

We are taught that we can break. That someone can break us. Break our hearts. Break our spirit. Then, we have the monumental task of trying to put ourselves back together.

But what if we were never broken to begin with? What if we don't need putting back together? What if you just need to be reminded that you are whole? And that you are fundamentally unbreakable?

Monumental, eh?

No one ever has that power over you. They cannot break you. Unless you see it that way. They can hurt you, horribly even. But they are just not strong enough to break you. No one is. Nothing is. Except you. You are still there, whole. Just fractured, walled, torn, darkened, nearly defeated...until you decide to let the light in…and out. But how do you do that? It's not as easy as it sounds, but easier than you might think. We'll get to that.

This revolutionary idea grew from something else that literally pulls my heart from my chest and threatens to break it every time I hear of it. Wild horses. Right now they are caught up in a heap of red tape, bureaucracy, and madness. But they - as all animals - are amazing teachers...if only we are willing to listen.

In this case, one day (okay, as I do many days) I was thinking about how great it would be to adopt a few and give them good lives, although I was torn. How could I ever compare to a life running free? Even more so, how could I ever "break" them? I've always hated that term in reference to horses, because it is usually so loosely used to mean taming or training.

I have actually seen horses near breaking or broken. Working with horse rescue, we came across horses who had clearly given up on humans and on living. Horses are herd-bound creatures that thrive on being "shown" the way and what is right. So when one is broken and loses hope with no one to show them better at that critical deciding point, they sometimes inherently buy in to the brokenness. It is very sad to witness, and very difficult to reason with and get them back (although countless horses are endlesslessy forgiving and many rehabilitators nobly try). Many other animals exhibit the same brokenness and heart-wrenching willingness to try, although many sadly succumb to the breaking.

With humans, there is one very big difference - we can actually realize our own unbrokenness if we look for it. We can reason out and understand that it was someone else's or something else's doing, or our perception of our own actions, that caused us to “break.” We can choose to acknowledge this fact and be broken, or not. We have the ability to realize that things and people only have the power to break us if we give them that power, deep within. When we feel utterly broken and shattered, we can stop and realize, we are still in there. Powerful. Whole. And never broken.

I apply this term also to people with seeming limitations. We call a certain category of people disabled, broken. Why? Because they do not function as society sees as "normal" functioning. But, in reality, no matter how big or how small a difference might be, they are actually just differently abled. Not broken. Not handicapped. They only are “disabled” if we say the opposite of what they are is the standard. If X-Men has taught us anything (rest in peace, Stan Lee), it is that differently abled can also mean natural selection could potentially choose one of these differences as the new "preferred" standard. OR we could just accept everyone as equally neverbroken. Yeah, there's that.

I will now shake things up and go as far as to say the same concept applies to color, race, sexual orientation, gender, religion, and culture. To say one is "right" (neverbroken) and one is "wrong" (broken) is outrageous. Historically, different cultures, races, sexual orientations, genders, religions, and colors (other than Euro-white heterosexual male) were perceived as less than, and, in a large way, "broken" or wrong. Clearly, this is not the case. Thus the assertion may seem a far stretch...but the point that I am trying to make is this:

It is about belief.

It is about perception.

You are never broken.

No one can dictate who you are.

We are all the same in that way, even with (and especially with) our differences.

The same goes for our inner self as much as our outer self.

No one can determine who you are - except you.

They can affect you.

They can infect you.

But they can only break you if you buy into it or believe it.

You are whole.

We are all whole. No matter who we are.

And we can choose to be whole, in darkness or in light.

You have already won. Because to live is to win. You just need to find your joy. But how? How do you believe in all of this when you are feeling broken and beyond, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually?

We will get there, TOGETHER. Please know that you are never alone and that there is always help through the darkness in places like HERE. We must unashamedly acknowledge that some of us have actual physical differences that make it near impossible to find light. I defer that helping these individuals is best left to trained professionals. I have sought professional help in my times of untethered darkness. If this happens to be you, please just know that you are not broken, even then. You are strong, just for being you, and even more so for seeking help.

For those of you who are able to see a glimmer and would like to continue on our journey, it is time to begin. Hopefully, these in-sights will help you realize your neverbrokenness:

• You are never alone.

• You are a good person.

• You have potential.

• You are awesome.

• You are different, and that’s okay.

• You are special.

• You are beautiful.

• You are smart.

• You have meaning.

• You will make waves.

• You will be heard.

• You will be seen.

• You will make it.

• You will be loved.