Healthy Living with Laura

💜 October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. 💜

Someone may need to hear this today: abuse doesn’t always leave a bruise.

Sometimes it looks like having to ask permission to spend money. Giving up friendships because seeing someone isn’t worth the argument afterward. Keeping your voice low because you know how quickly a conversation can turn.

It can mean being blamed for everything, having your decisions controlled, or hearing so often that you’re “crazy,” “dramatic,” or “impossible to love” that you begin to question yourself.

Sometimes it’s the woman who looks perfectly fine on the outside but is exhausted from surviving behind closed doors.

She may be beside us at work, at church, in the grocery store—or reading this at 2 a.m., wondering whether what she’s experiencing counts as abuse.

If you have to make yourself smaller to feel safe with someone, you deserve more. You deserve safety, respect, and the freedom to be yourself.

And if you’ve already left but are still untangling what happened, this message is for you, too. 💜

Leaving doesn’t erase the pain. Freedom can come with grief. You may miss the person you hoped your partner would become. You may wonder why you stayed or why healing is taking so long.

There is no shame in what you did to survive. You don’t have to judge your past self to build a different future.

For those who haven’t lived it, you don’t have to understand every detail to offer kindness.

Don’t ask, “Why did you stay?”
Ask, “How can I support you?”

Listen without judgment. Take her seriously. Respect her choices. Help where you safely can, and remind her that wanting peace is not asking too much.

Some women are only beginning to recognize that what they called “normal” was survival. Others are discovering the quiet joy of making their own decisions again.

Both deserve compassion.

This October, let’s be a community where a woman can say, “I need help,” without feeling ashamed.

Where we support the woman who isn’t ready to leave, the woman making a plan, and the woman rebuilding her life.

Where needing help doesn’t mean weakness—and no one has to earn compassion by telling every painful detail.

You don’t have to share your story with me.
You don’t have to explain yourself.
You don’t have to be ready to take the next step.

Just know that there are women willing to sit beside you through the hard parts, help you find your footing, and remind you that you deserve a life with room for peace, connection, and joy.

I’m one of those women. Contact me if you need someone to listen. 💜

💜

Mel Robbins and Oprah. ❤️

Oprah Winfrey: How to Find Your Unique Purpose, Authentic Power, and Calling In Life Podcast Episode · The Mel Robbins Podcast · September 17 · 1h 19m