Too many of us were conditioned to silence our instincts, ignore our boundaries, and minimize our fears. But that conditioning didn’t come from love—i
Too many of us were conditioned to silence our instincts, ignore our boundaries, and minimize our fears. But that conditioning didn’t come from love—it came from control. They received and deeply embedded that conditioning from another source. 
Ask yourself: Who taught you to minimize your safety?
Was it family who told you to “be nice”? Was it leaders who told you to “forgive and forget”? Or a society that tells women we’re overreacting?
Those lessons were never meant to keep you safe. They were meant to keep you quiet.
Downplaying your safety is a learned behavior.
If you were taught to swallow fear, ignore danger, or silence your voice—unlearn it.
Your safety matters. Protect it fiercely. Teach it boldly. Pass it forward.
Who trained you to think safety was selfish?
Safety is not selfish. Safety is sacred.
Here we say: Stop apologizing for protecting yourself. Start living as if your safety is a birthright—because it is.
If you were trained to downplay your safety, it’s time to ask: Who benefits from that?
Predators. Systems that more often than not protect abusers. Communities that value silence over truth.
It’s not paranoia to want to be safe. It’s wisdom.
Your safety is not negotiable. Your voice is not too much. Your boundaries are not a burden.
At We Survive Abuse, we affirm this truth: the lessons that taught you to shrink can be unlearned. Your safety matters. You matter.
*We stand with the young people who are frequently targeted in times of racial unrest. We stand with them as they are targeted in too many dangerous, harmful, and destructive ways. Invest and engage them in positive ways.
Affirmations for When the Truth Begins to Return to You
I honor the wisdom of my younger self. She did what she had to do to survive.
I am allowed to remember now. The truth belongs to me.
Even when I didn’t speak it, I knew something was wrong. That knowing was my strength.
My silence was not weakness—it was strategy. Now I choose when and how I speak.
I release the need to protect people who harmed me.
I will not shame myself for what I couldn’t face then. I survived the unfaceable.
I am building a life where the truth is safe, not dangerous.
There is no timeline for seeing clearly. My clarity arrives right on time.
I trust myself to feel what I feel, remember what I remember, and grow in my own way.
I no longer confuse loyalty with silence. I am loyal to my healing now.
My voice is rising. My vision is sharpening. My spirit is returning home to me.
Today, I walk in truth—not because it’s easy, but because I deserve to be free.