One thing about getting older and living through things is that you get to learn. If you choose to anyway. Sometimes you learn lessons you never wanted to learn in the first place.
Supermodel Beverly Johnson once shared a frightening experience in which she believed someone had drugged her. She explained that her exposure to drugs during her years in the modeling industry helped her recognize what was happening to her.
She knew what certain substances felt like. And when something felt terribly wrong, she recognized it.
What stands out to me most is Beverly Johnson’s trust in herself.
She didn’t dismiss what she recognized just because someone else might have questioned her. She trusted her own experience enough to take her suspicions seriously.
That’s a kind of self-trust women are too often heavily encouraged to surrender.
I’ve thought about that because sometimes the experiences we aren’t particularly proud of, the years we wish had gone differently, or the things we survived become part of the knowledge that protects us later.
And we shouldn’t be so quick to throw that knowledge away.
I think about women who have lived through difficult relationships and can recognize certain behaviors long before other people notice anything unusual. Or a woman who has been deceived before and hears something in a conversation that doesn’t quite add up.
She may not have all the answers. She may not even have the words to explain what she’s noticing yet. But she knows enough to pay attention.
What I appreciate about Beverly’s story is that she treated her own knowledge as something worth believing. She didn’t need to pretend she was unfamiliar with drugs to make her experience more respectable. She did not allow shame to dismiss danger. The very knowledge someone might have judged her for having, helped her recognize that something was wrong.
There is a lesson in that.
We don’t have to be ashamed of where we learned something useful.
Now, I never want women or Survivors to hear stories like this and believe they should have somehow known everything in advance. People who cause harm are responsible for their choices. Plenty of dangerous situations offer little warning, and recognizing danger doesn’t always give someone a way out.
But there is still something valuable in learning to respect our own observations.
You have lived a life. You’ve seen some things. You’ve learned from people, places, mistakes, disappointments, and experiences you never asked to have.
And when something happens that reminds you of what you’ve learned, give yourself permission to pay attention.
Beverly Johnson’s self-trust is the part of her story I want women to remember. She recognized something was wrong, respected what she knew, and took herself seriously.
Sometimes the wisdom that helps you protect yourself comes from a chapter of your life you once wished you could erase.
