ACES, Effects of Child Abuse and Strategies for Healing

When I was growing up, I got into playing hockey at a high level from a young age and until just after I turned 16. One of the reasons that I wanted to walk away from the game of hockey, which I still dearly love and did go back to after many years, is that I wanted to learn more about my own personal motivation. Hockey is a team game that requires a lot of sacrifices for the sake of your team. The thought of the mental toughness required by other athletes in individual sports felt like what I was seeking. I started by getting into cycling in the offseason and then triathlons and duathlons. I only raced a few times, did well but never really stuck with it- for whatever reason. When I look back on those days, even though I was being criticized or judged by some of the people around me, I had a feeling of health and confidence, of knowing really how my body condition was and kept a training journal to help me stay informed. If my knee felt sore one day there was extra light stretching and maybe a gentle spin on the bike with some tiger balm after. I paid attention to my diet- a lot of things. I wrote down inspirational quotes to read every time I opened my training journal.

Where am I going with all of this?

As some of you may have read, in a previous post, I am an adult survivor of child abuse. I only recalled this last fall and as such am in the midst of processing all of the shock that came with it. I would like to share with you so far some tidbits of what I am trying to integrate into part of my recovery and development of a way of being that mimics some of the successes I was able to achieve when I was in my youth.

ACES - Adverse Childhood Experiences

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Thank you for reading. Please feel free to upvote and resteem if you like. Also, please feel free to comment and share any strategies and resources or if you have any other recommendations I hope I am not alone in seeing the potential value for myself as well as others.

Be good.

Jamie