The Truth I Avoided… Until It Changed My Life

There are stories we tell the world… and then there are the untold chapters. This is one of mine

A young woman with braided hair is cooking vegetables in a pan in a cozy kitchen.
“She carried more than plates… she carried pain, pressure, and nine lives depending on her to survive.”

🌿Truth Talk Tuesday and My Emotional Healing Journey

Good afternoon, my beautiful readers 💚

Today is Truth Talk Tuesday, and this one… it touched a part of my heart I didn’t even realize still needed healing.

Because sometimes, the truth isn’t just about what happened to you…
It’s about understanding why it happened.

And this week, during my emotional healing journey, I had to face a truth that changed the way I see my childhood… and my mother.


💭 The Truth I Avoided in My Emotional Healing Journey

For a long time, I carried pain from my childhood.

I carried questions.
carried silence.
I carried moments where I felt like I needed more… but didn’t receive it.

And I never fully allowed myself to process it.

Not because I didn’t feel it…

But because facing it meant acknowledging that something was missing.

And the truth I avoided was this:

👉 My mother had trauma too.

That realization didn’t come easy.


🍽️ Storytime: A Real Truth Talk With Me & Avery

The Conversation That Shifted Everything

So let me take you into a real moment… a real conversation… one of those talks that stays with you.

Me and Avery were sitting down, eating, just having one of our usual conversations.

Nothing heavy at first.

Just talking about life… growth… where we’ve been and where we’re going.

And somehow, the conversation shifted to childhood.

I started opening up… talking about things I went through, things I felt, things I didn’t always understand growing up.

And Avery listened.

Not to respond… but to understand.

Then he said something that stopped me in my tracks.

He said,
“Have you ever thought about what your mom went through?”

I got quiet.

Because I had spent so much time focusing on what I didn’t receive…

That I never stopped to think about what she didn’t have either.


💔 Seeing My Mother Through a Different Lens

As I sat there, I started thinking deeper…

As I think back on what my mama told me about the way she grew up…
it was not all pretty.

It wasn’t.

It was not all sunshine and rainbows.

She had it rough.
She had it tough.

And I want to be clear…

I’m not excusing what she did to me.

I’m just being honest.

Because when I really sat with it, I started realizing things I never allowed myself to fully understand.

Being young… getting pregnant at 15…
having one child… then eventually five kids…

But it didn’t stop there.

My mama had five of her own kids, plus she took in her sister’s kids… and that was four more.

That’s nine kids in one house.

Nine.

Trying to feed us.
Trying to raise us,
Trying to keep everything together.

And on top of all of that…

She was battling her own struggles… even being on drugs.

That’s a lot for anybody.

That’s a lot for a young woman still trying to figure life out herself.

And then it hit me even deeper…

👉 She only taught us based on what she was taught.

From my grandma.
From her environment,
From survival.

And that was deep.

Because when people say, “your kids don’t grow up with the same version of you,” that’s real.

Me and my sister and brothers?

We all experienced different versions of my mama.

Just like we’ve all grown into different versions of ourselves.

And when I really sat with that truth…

I realized something powerful:

👉 My mama’s story is deeper than what I experienced.

She took on a road she didn’t even fully understand…

didn’t know how to navigate…

didn’t know where to begin.

But she still tried.

She tried her best.

And I know people in the family may see her differently…

But me?

I understand.


🌱 Truth Talk Tuesday: Healing Through Understanding

This part of my emotional healing journey taught me something powerful:

Sometimes healing isn’t about blaming.

It’s about understanding.

about realizing that people can love you… and still not know how to love you the way you needed.

It’s about giving yourself permission to feel your pain…

But also giving others grace for their humanity.

That doesn’t erase what you went through.

But it does free your heart from carrying it in a heavy way.


📖 Bible Verse for Healing and Grace

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” — Ephesians 4:32


✨ Motivational Quote

“Healing begins when understanding replaces resentment.”


💬 A Question For You

Have you ever taken a moment to see someone who hurt you… through the lens of what they may have gone through?

What did that change for you?


🌸 A Moment of Reflection

God,
Thank You for revealing truths that help me grow, even when they are hard to accept.

Help me to see people the way You see them with compassion, grace, and understanding.

Heal the parts of my heart that still carry pain, and replace it with peace.

Teach me to forgive, not for others… but for my own freedom.

Amen 🙏


🔗 Stay Connected With Me

Continue your journey with me here:

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https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannon-stearns-58aa9a249/


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My story isn’t perfect, but it’s real and I’m still standing, still growing, and still becoming.


✨ One Last Thought Before You Go

Life is full of chapters we don’t always understand while we’re living them. But I’m learning that sometimes the most powerful stories come from the moments we thought would break us.

And if there’s one thing I’ve realized, it’s this: every season of life has a lesson waiting inside of it.

So here’s something I want you to think about today:
What is one moment in your life that changed the way you see yourself?

I would love to hear your story in the comments. Your experience might be the encouragement someone else needs today.

And if this message spoke to you, make sure you come back tomorrow… because I’ll be sharing another chapter of “The Untold Truth.”

Until next time, 💚

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