In light of the massive upheaval that has arisen since my last series on betrayal trauma, I feel the need to make a general overall statement, mainly because it would take years to respond to the thousands of comments, and some of them I don't feel are worth responding to anyway. 

I've officially been bashed by the internet for my religion, my personality, my values, my mind, my writing, my experiences, my dreams, and anything else that people could manage to find wrong with me and those articles.  Congratulations, you've officially covered all of your bases.  I suppose most of you who made the rude comments, (if not all of you) feel like they're deserved, and you completely have a right to your own opinion.  But if you feel the need to write any more nasty comments on my blog, they are now immediately deleted on Chronically Beautiful simply because as the author of my own website, I have the freedom to choose what is shared and what is not, and I don't write things for the purpose of spreading hate. 

The things that people are willing to say to a complete stranger are quite shocking, and make an overall general negative statement about our society.  I find it ironic that for a society that is big on #noshame, everyone seems perfectly okay with shaming and harassing innocent people on the internet.  It's okay to have differing opinions than mine.  In fact, it's more than okay.  But there's certain class, civility, and eloquence that anyone can demonstrate when stating their different opinions, which some people showed in their comments.  You can absolutely state how you think or feel without brutality.  Nobody deserves to be treated in such a way, including myself.

I want to take a minute to address the religious aspect of the argument.  Most of you have figured out by now that I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  I love my religion, and it brings me great joy and happiness.  No, the "Mormons" are not a cult, and just because someone is religious and believes in God does not mean we automatically belong to a cult.  It does mean that I believe in a most high God who loves ALL of his children, including my ex-fiance, and every single one of you.  It means that I value chastity, which means abstinence from sexual relationships before marriage and complete fidelity after marriage.  You do not need to agree with my values to respect my values.  And just because I have a high-value system does not mean that I'm "self-righteous" or that I believe that I'm perfect.  Of course, I have my flaws... but there is a major difference between making mistakes, and sexual promiscuity.

One thing I want to point out is that true love does not and cannot exist unless it is governed by God's law.  This includes chastity, fidelity, loyalty, and honesty.  Without those things, TRUE love does not exist.  And those who proclaim that it does are usually not very happy themselves.  Of course, marriage is hard and there's no perfect marriage. But overall, marriage was created to bring more joy and happiness than pain and heartache.  But to those who think I "jumped ship," you're right... I did.  Because when someone in  an engagement decides to violate God's laws, honesty doesn't exist. And neither does love. At that point, because we were not yet married, it was not my job to "fix him."  (When has a woman ever tried to "fix" a man and it's actually worked anyway!?) It's his job to fix himself.  That doesn't mean I can't offer love and forgiveness.  Which I did at the time and still do... but forgiveness does not equate to sticking around where I can be hurt multiple times over.  You don't reach repentance and change by being coddled every step of the way.  Leaving was an act of love because I care more about what happens to him in the next life than I do about having a "picture perfect wedding" in the here and now.  No woman should ever be guilted into marrying anybody.     

I also want to state that I think a large majority of people are missing the point of why I wrote these articles.  I was completely aware when I posted these that I would get some backlash.  But those people that are whipping me with their tongues are not the audience that I wrote this series of articles for.  So honestly, if it makes you that angry, there is literally no reason why you have to read what I write.  I didn't write them to shame men, women, or porn addicts.  I didn't write them to shame my ex-fiance.  I didn't write them to get attention (why on earth would anyone actually want this much attention?).

​The reason I wrote these articles is because there are hundreds and thousands of women out there (and I'm sure some men too) who have been through similar things.  Some of these people that I have met personally have continuously told me that they have experienced so much pain from their loved one's pornography addiction, but they can't talk about it precisely because of the social backlash that I have received from this topic.  I write for these women.  I write for these women that finally have a voice now (as you can see from the comments on LOVE WHAT MATTERS).  I write for these women so they can see that despite the men or other people in their lives who betray their trust, they still have worth and there is hope that their hearts will be healed.

I also believe it's quite appalling that anybody invalidates anyone else's pain.  Everybody feels and expresses things on different levels, and just because we live in a society that is insanely numb, does not mean that everyone has to be numb and emotionless.  Nobody would ever laugh at someone who was in a car accident and lost an arm.  So why is it okay that we mock other people's emotional pain?  If the shoe was on the other foot and it was YOUR emotional pain caused by someone close to you betraying YOUR trust, it wouldn't be so funny now would it?  I also want to point out that I suffer from a chronic illness called Chronic Lyme Disease.  The nature of Lyme disease itself is that it can drill into your nervous system, and therefore it causes a heightening of the senses.  This is usually accompanied by deep negative emotion, anxiety, or depression.  So when a Lyme patient's life is thrown a hardball, it is extremely hard to process at first.  So to those who think I'm "immature" and "overly dramatic"...  That's not exactly a card you can play if you don't live in my own skin.  I simply wrote what I was feeling at the time, and if you actually read the other two parts you would find that the conclusion was that I'm happy with the decision I made, and that I did overcome the pain I was feeling.

Okay, let's address the pornography issue for a minute here...

First of all... to those who think I just destroyed my ex-fiancé's life... Let me clarify:  We already had over 300 invitations to our wedding sent out.  We had to call every single one of those people and tell them what happened to inform them that the wedding was off.  Pornography addiction does not just affect you.  Pornography addiction affects the people around you, and it's only so long before the truth is going to come out.  Because of the nature of my situation, it's not a secret among our friends and family.  It never was.  I didn't write the articles to bash my ex-fiance.  And the things I did write simply stated what happened, and how I felt about it.  That's it!  I forgive my ex-fiancé, and I hope the best for him and his life. 

I recognize that pornography addiction is a massive struggle for some people, and I want to point out here that my heart goes out to anyone who is caught in the grasp of it.  I do NOT feel hatred towards the people who struggle from addiction.  I feel sad because I know how much it destroys love, family, and happiness.  But I don't feel hatred.  If you read the whole post, you would have read that eventually I had to stop seeing myself as the victim in the situation because that's part of moving on and healing.  Similarly, the people who are addicted to porn need to stop seeing themselves as the victim too.  Because if you say that a porn addict is a victim, you're not giving them any hope to overcome the addiction.  Clearly, there needs to be MORE HOPE in this world.

Pornography addiction is a very difficult plague.  I will never claim that it's not.  And whether you believe that pornography addiction is an illness or not is irrelevant, because the problem is that so many people use the word "addiction" and "illness" as a way to justify their actions, in which case they will never overcome it.  There are two roads you can take when you find yourself in this place.  One road will always lead back to the addiction.  And the other road leads to Christ who paid the price for ALL pain.  One road leads to shame, isolation, and other sexual addictions, and the other road leads to repentance and change.  Christ paid the price for those struggling with pornography.  Does it take some stretching and some difficulty to overcome?  Of course, it does!  But it isn't impossible.  It's possible with Christ's enabling power.  You don't have to live life with a serious sexual addiction.  There is life without porn addiction, and believe it or not, there can be life AFTER porn addiction depending on how YOU CHOOSE to get help and how YOU CHOOSE to help yourself.

I also want to take a minute to address the people who claim "it's just porn."  There are HUNDREDS of statistics on how harmful pornography is on the brain, relationships, and the world.  If you don't believe me, you can visit fightthenewdrug.org where it outlines and explains what pornography does, and why it's so harmful.  There is nothing natural or healthy about indulging in pornography.  To say that "all men look at porn" is to say that all men care more about self-gratification and sexual desire than they do about their wives, daughters, sons, and the other people they love in their life.  I don't believe that all men are like that... In fact, I know some incredible men who are not like that, and porn is not a part of their lives, or they're trying incredibly hard to eliminate it from their lives.  Kudos to those men.  Kudos to them for valuing greater things in their lives.  The reason why pornography is such a massive epidemic in society is because it's so socially acceptable.  There is nothing wrong with hoping for a greater future for our world than one filled with porn, addiction, and adultery.

I want to conclude this post by thanking all the wonderful women and men who have positively reached out to me in the past few days, and I want to offer tremendous love to all the people who have given support and banned together on this issue.  Keep on keeping on and stay strong!  There is always hope and happiness ahead!

There is one truth that for the longest time I never believed for myself.  But now I believe it, and I want everyone who suffers on levels such as this to know:

HEALING IS POSSIBLE.  HEALING CAME FOR ME, AND IT WILL COME FOR YOU TO!

Healing is not something that occurs in one swift motion.  Healing does not come in an instant, and healing isn't an easy process.  Healing is a cleansing process.  A cleansing process of one's mind, heart, and soul.  Healing is a choice.  We are NOT a result of what happens to us in our lives.  We are a result of how we REACT to what happens to us.  There are things that will come that are completely out of our control, but how we choose to react to those things will determine our destiny.  If we choose wisely, we can experience healing along the road that at times will seem relentlessly long.

And here's the good news:  WE ARE NOT ALONE ON OUR PATH TOWARDS HEALING!  Isn't that a glorious message!?  We have a loving and merciful God who is there for us every step of the way.  We have a Savior who knows EXACTLY what we are going through because he suffered all of these pains we feel long before we felt them.  And we have angels that we cannot see who are there to love and support us and they are fighting our battles with us.  You see, we are never truly alone on our painful journeys.  That was something I had to learn before I was able to get up, overcome the initial shock, and move forward in faith.

Healing doesn't come through choosing to be the victim in any certain circumstance, and for me I had to push past the agony that was taking place in my mind and heart, and make specific decisions and take action towards healing.  Small choices I made back then made a massive impact on the state of my heart as time passed.  These are action steps that every single one of us can make.  And no, making these decisions doesn't make the heart-stopping pain hurt less, and it doesn't induce instant healing, but it teaches and heals one step, one second, one minute, and one day at a time.

These are the things I had to experience in order to reach healing:  

1. I had to decide right away that I wasn't going to let this destroy me.  Throughout the course of events I resolved to be strong even if I felt like the weakest person on the face of the earth.  For so long I felt like a little girl that couldn't control her feelings or emotions.  I felt insane and I figured that my sanity was out of my control at the time.  To a point it was... there were things I couldn't control.  I couldn't control the deep ache that settled in my chest for weeks.  I couldn't control my inability to sleep, or my lack of appetite due to the nausea that seemed to follow me everywhere.  I couldn't control the horrific nightmares I had when I did sleep, and I couldn't control feeling overwhelmingly heavy all the time, almost as if an elephant was constantly sitting on me.

So, I took hold of the things I could control.  I controlled how often I fell on my knees and talked with my Heavenly Father.  I controlled opening up God's word and reading to find peace and wisdom.  I controlled the fact that I wouldn't allow myself to be left alone at any given time for the first little while.  I controlled who I spoke to and who I did not.  I controlled which texts and phone calls I answered and which ones I did not.  I was constantly seeking for peace.  Hidden in all of these little insignificant choices was my deep desire to not let this tragedy destroy me.  I wanted so desperately to be strong, and I learned along the way that all of us are blessed with that strength inside of us.  God is more powerful than pain, and He can bless us with extra strength if we so choose to develop it. 

2. I decided to find myself by losing myself in the service of others.  One wise teacher, mentor, and friend once told me that "you find yourself by losing yourself in the service of others."  I figured in this case I didn't have anything else to lose so I might as well distract myself at least.  I expressed at one point my deep and painful feelings to this friend who offered me the opportunity to come volunteer as his TA for a semester at a local high school.  I'd be working with high school seniors, and for whatever reason I felt a desperate need to except his offer.

Without going into great detail about that glorious experience, I have to admit that it was a MASSIVE blessing at this time in my life to get to know those high school seniors.  Being greeted with "Good morning Miss Dalton!" every morning brought such joy to my soul for a time, and my heart felt full with love for those bright and beautiful teenagers that I was working with.  Serving others played a tremendous role in my healing process, and it can in yours too.  It's all a part of opening up your heart again to be able to love.  Love is the greatest healing power in the entire world, and when I let a small piece of my heart love again, it meant the beginning of that small piece being mended and restored little by little.    

3. I had to purge my past and forgive.  Forgiveness was one of my more difficult tasks on my path to healing.  I wanted to believe that I had forgiven him from the beginning.  And I had reached forgiveness to a point, but I hadn't let it all go.  I spent so much time being angry at him for destroying me.  I spent so much time agonizing and reliving those moments of horror.  I spent so much time feeling terrified of the people I came in contact or with, or afraid that maybe I didn't have a future past this experience.  Honestly, I had to experience those difficult feelings in order to truly forgive and surrender my past in a way that doesn't let it define my future.  Along the way I learned some things about forgiveness.

First, forgiveness does not mean putting yourself in a place where your heart keeps breaking.  It doesn't mean reinserting yourself into someones life who has hurt you tremendously.  Sometimes we have to love and forgive people from a distance, and that's okay.  Second, forgiveness is not the same as excusing.  We do not have to excuse someone's wrongdoing in order to forgive them.  In fact, the more we allow ourselves to experience and recognize the damage that has been done, the greater our capacity to forgive, change, and move on.  And third, forgiveness creates a safe space to allow God to heal your heart.  Restitution for me came from my Savior, and it came in the form of healing and restoration of my heart and mind.  Once I achieved forgiveness with the help of the Savior, I was able to feel free again which opened my heart up to be healed and purge the negative emotions I had towards the one who had wronged me.  We all have that power to forgive.  And if we don't have that power in the beginning, pray for that power.  God will bless you with the innate power to forgive and move on. 

4. I had to give all of my pain to my Savior.  I remember a very specific time in the course of events where I learned this crucial life lesson.  I had just moved with my parents, I was in a new place, and I had met some new people that I was terrified to open up to or think about to much.  I was sitting on the edge of my bed one night in horrendous emotional pain.  I felt panicky and weak and my heart hurt tremendously.  I felt confused and angry and I sobbed uncontrollably for the loss of my peace of mind.  It had been months... I should be over it... I shouldn't be hurting so much.  In that moment I wondered if I would ever feel peace again.  

At the time a thought came to mind that I had read about how the Savior is just waiting to heal us of our wounds and misfortunes, but in order for us to allow Him to heal our hearts, we have to ask for healing.  It occurred to me at that moment that I had not yet simply asked for Him to take my pain.  It seemed impossible for one moment of inquiry to heal such a wounded and broken down heart.  But I had to try, and I had to muster up enough faith for healing to occur.  I retreated to my knees and pleaded with the Lord to heal me.  To take my pain.  And I remember clearly stating, "Please... I don't want this anymore!"

At the conclusion of my prayer I felt stillness, and I felt an obvious lift in my heart.  I felt anger melt into the floor, and I felt peace fill my soul as the tears flooded down my face.  I knew in that moment that my prayer had been heard, and that I was currently in the process of having it be answered.  My merciful Heavenly Father was going to take all my broken pieces and build them into something beautiful.  I just had to excersise patience, and after that moment, my grief and pain in the days to come was less intense, less excruciating, and more bearable.  It was nothing short of a miracle and I know it's because when we lay our burdens at our Savior's feet, He heals us.

5. I had to recognize that I still had worth.  I was broken, wounded, damaged...  I've used those words to describe myself so many times.  I knew that to most men I was "damaged goods," and in my mind I didn't disagree, and I didn't believe that I had anything to give or offer anymore.  But in order to experience healing, I had to learn differently. 

Nobody is ever just eternally broken or damaged unless they choose to be that way.  I have so much worth, and so much to give in my interactions with others.  I may be broken, and I may have some scars, but my brokenness has transformed me into something beautiful.  It's ironic because in the midst of it all, in the past year my capacity to love others has grown.  I know now that someday when I discover the man who I was meant to be with, my love for him won't be any less because of the love that I had for the man who hurt me.

You're not broken!  You're not damaged!  You're not worthless!  And in the sight of God, you have infinite power and ability to love and be loved, and continue on your path towards success and happiness.  That was something I wish I would have understood faster, because it's so crucial when we are healing to know who we are, and by knowing who we are, we can take back our power that God blesses us with to prosper and live life to the fullest.

6. I had to be thankful.  Gratitude is essential for healing.  Either I was cursed because I lost who I thought was the love of my life.  Or I was blessed because I was saved from being put in a situation that would have destroyed me so much more if it would have gone on longer.  I've come to know that I was gloriously blessed, and I thank my Heavenly Father every day for saving me without me even knowing that I needed to be saved.  When we express gratitude, we open our hearts to healing and happiness and let go of things that we no longer need to hold on to.  It's not easy to find gratitude after such horrific experiences, but it's possible to find it.  We simply start by seeking for the desire to be thankful.  After that, it will come if we exercise faith. 

6. I have to keep striving.  Stop crying.  Get out of bed.  Put one foot in front of the other.  And continue on in faith doing the things you know you should be doing, and the rest will fall into place.  You don't get anywhere in life if you spend it crying in a bed or a chair.  You experience peace and healing by living and moving forward.  And I will be the first to admit that it is not always easy.  There will be days for a long, long time where you grieve and cry.  There will be days where you will feel like you cannot continue.  There will be days where all of your feelings come to the surface in the form of tears.  And there will be days you just want to scream because you cannot avoid the prickly parts of healing from trauma.  

But I promise you that there will also be days where you find unexpected smiles creeping across your lips.  There will be days when you'll meet new people that you're meant to love and be loved by.  There will be days when you find yourself laughing again.  There will be days when you'll experience joy in the moment, peace for the past, and hope for the future.  These moments are what make the painful moments completely worth it. 

Healing is possible.  It doesn't come instantly but IT DOES COME.  There are still days that I hurt and struggle.  There are still days that I have to relive the past.  There are still days that I experience longing and hopelessness, but they get less and less the more I strive for healing.  It's important to remember that you are always loved.  And there is ALWAYS help and happiness ahead.  

​When a person undergoes such a deep traumatic event that is the betrayal of a loved one's trust in such a circumstance as mine, there are two realizations that occur.  These realizations came so quickly for me, and they destroyed me to a point where I couldn't feel anything in the moment.  I simply felt dreadfully numb. 

The first gut wrenching realization was the betrayal itself.  I felt like I'd been cheated on.  It changed my entire relationship with him including all the happy memories that we had shared in the past.  It made me feel worthless and unlovable.  It made me feel like it was all my fault, and if I would have just done one thing or another differently, I could have changed something.  The betrayal itself cut like a knife, but the second realization cut even harder.

My second realization was that someone I loved and cared for deeply had been expertly lying to me for the entire length of our relationship, and possibly longer since we had been friends for so long.  All at once I was with a stranger instead of the person I thought I knew so well.  In an instant I could never trust those lying eyes ever again.  In order to lie to somebody that you spend such large amounts of time with, it takes expertise thought and effort to hide such a big secret.  So not only did he lie, but he planned carefully how to lie and get away with it.  And not once did it ever cross his mind how much that would hurt me.  That fact stung.  It stung deep, and it stung hard.  All I ever wanted in a relationship was honesty, and it quickly occurred to me that the only honesty I'd known at that point in time was fake.     

Neither of these deep realizations felt real to me at first.  I woke up every morning for quite some time thinking that maybe it was just a sick joke and tomorrow would be better and back to "normal."  It seemed so unreal to me, and I didn't know how I was ever going to live my life without him, or without my "happy wedding" going through.  Along with everything else I was feeling, I felt dreadful loneliness deeper than I've ever felt before, or that I've ever felt since.

These intense feelings lasted for quite some time, and there were days that I wondered if I had lost my mind, or my sanity... or both.  Nothing seemed to make complete sense to me as I was forced to navigate functioning in this cold and distant reality while everyone else went on with their lives in the present.  I felt stuck as I learned that navigating this form of trauma was something I had to take one day at a time.

The first signs of healing were the greatest blessing to me.  The first signs of healing were like a massive weight being lifted off my shoulders by some Power beyond my own.  That first taste of healing came in the form of less tears and a clearer mind.  At one point I had finally lost the constant feeling of needing to scream all the time, and that elephant that was sitting on me finally left my presence.  When that occurred the tightness in my throat and the constant nausea lifted and I felt incredibly thankful.  The first bits of relief made me feel like I'd been delivered into a place where I could function in the present again, and I began to find myself and navigate my new skin.  What I didn't know was that navigating my new skin would not be an easy task.

My new skin... I didn't even know I had shed an old skin.  I just felt awkward and uncomfortable most of the time, and I didn't completely understand why.  I felt vulnerable at that time, and as I learned to navigate my new skin that vulnerability beamed a little too brightly. 

First, I found myself talking too much.  Up until then I'd spent most of my life like a little mouse too afraid to say anything in fear of "rocking the boat," or "offending someone."  Now, as if in one fell swoop, I couldn't get myself to stop speaking my mind.  It's like I woke up one day and realized that I had intelligent things to say, and then I resolved to not let anything stop me from saying them.  I felt like I had a story to tell, and I was going to tell anyone and everyone who was willing to listen.  I rolled the events in my life over in my head a million times, and as a result of that I probably rolled those thoughts over to a half a dozen random people.  Some of those people left deep hand-prints on my heart as they played an incredibly important role in my healing process simply because they were willing to listen. Some are now some of my closest friends, to which I'm thankful for that unique time in my life.

After this odd phase of grief, I went through what I felt at the time was a relapse.  I spent many long nights crying myself to sleep, grieving over what I'd lost, and trying to keep silent about it because I didn't want to burden anyone with past pain that very much manifested itself in the present moment.  I told myself it was past and I had no reason to be hurting this greatly now.  I learned later that what I was experiencing was completely normal, and you don't just overcome trauma in a few months time.

Believe it or not, that phase of grief passed as well, and little by little I started to feel like myself again.  I suppose that brings us to the here and now.  It's been one year, and I feel like a completely different person.  It's funny how pain increases your capacity to feel both the good and the bad... 

I am now driven to tears so much easier than I used to be. 
When others express their pain to me, I quite literally can feel their pain. 
Fear is a constant companion of mine. 
The thought of opening my heart up to someone again makes me feel sick and panicky.
I almost always feel suspicious of the people around me that I don't know. 
The walls around my heart are stronger than ever and it's going to take a miracle to break them down.
I don't trust people.  I just don't.

The problem with walls is that the resolve to have such a strong defense is lonely and isolating.  But it's so much easier to resolve to never love again because if I stay on my own, I don't have to fear the cost of betrayal, or the cost of a broken heart.  Such dilemmas as this are not things that I will even pretend to have figured out, because I have not.  But... I do know that with the negative impact there have also been blessings...

I have discovered my strong will and determination to stand for what's right. 
I now found the courage to speak my mind and the temperance to hold my tongue when necessary.
I have a new sense of resilience that rests in my heart at all times.
I have recognized that after such a deep wound to the heart comes the greater capacity to love those around me.
I have also identified the need that everybody has for compassion and the great ability I have to offer that love and compassion to those in my life who are going through difficult things.
I have gained a greater faith and hope in God's plan for me and for His eternal perspective of my life's purpose.
My trust in people my be slim to none, but my trust in God has increased ten fold and continues to sustain me through the pains that I still sometimes suffer from.

Betrayal trauma is real.  It's long term effects are real.  And the pain it causes is real.  As a victim of betrayal trauma, you have every right to feel your pain at it's true capacity.  And then once you've recognized the true capacity of that pain, it gives you the power to be able to shed it and then create something beautiful out of it.

​It’s been one year.  One long year where I’ve had the opportunity to experience a cleansing process that has left me feeling like I’ve shed my old skin…  And the funny thing is that at times I still feel like I’m trying to get used to my new skin.  The new me.  The me that was born out of indescribable and insurmountable levels of pain that I never thought I’d experience.   It’s been one year since my entire world came crashing down within seconds, and my whole life changed.  

I still remember that night as if it were yesterday.  I was sitting on the couch with my fiancé, and everything seemed blissful.  I was to be married in a week, and I loved this man very much.  We had spent four years building a friendship, and almost a year cultivating a relationship of love that is patient and kind.  A relationship that I thought to be above any other relationship I’d ever find.  My life seemed like pure bliss, but even so, I felt a distant sting and fragility in the air that I couldn’t quite put my finger on, so I stubbornly pushed it in the back of my mind and tuned my thoughts to visions of wedded bliss.

I expressed to my fiancé the thoughts and concerns that seemed to buzz through my mind, but he assured me that all was well and that all would continue to be well.  I believed him.  I trusted him.  And I resolved in my mind that I was just being paranoid with my own worries that were irrelevant and irrational.  
I resolved to keep busy, concluding that my worries would subside.  I suggested we go and run an errand for the long-anticipated wedding we’d been planning for the past six months.  And for whatever reason, I stood up and reached for his phone instead of mine to inquire as to when a particular store would be closed. 

That’s when I found it.

Three words on his search bar that changed my entire visage.  Three words that concluded that he’d been searching for pornography possibly just hours ago.  My entire demeanor must have changed in the brief second when I read those words because he inquired of me what was wrong.  I asked why those words were typed into his search bar, and I looked at him with pleading eyes hoping that there was some logical explanation.

Somewhere within the course of those events, I exited out of that window on his phone, only to find multiple windows open of sick and twisted ideas of what women supposedly look like.  I felt sick to my stomach.

He did a great job.
He put on a show.

He reassured me that his brother had a problem, so the only obvious answer was that his brother got a hold of his phone and it wasn’t him.

The coldest thing I’ve ever witnessed in my entire life is the lying eyes of the man I love gazing deep into the windows of my soul as multiple lies rolled from his lips.  He knew it was all a lie, but for some reason, he could look at the woman that he claimed to love so dearly straight in her eyes and lie straight to her face.  I never knew until that moment how unconsciously cold a single person could be.

We talked for hours… it felt like days… And somehow, he managed to semi convince me it wasn’t him.
I came home that night with a pit in my stomach.  Feeling like there was darkness all around me, and for some reason, it wouldn’t leave.

I’ll never forget when the truth finally came out.

I called him on the phone and asked for reassurance again.  I pleaded for the truth, but I didn’t believe it was him until it finally came out.

Those words still sting.  “It’s me… I have a problem.”

At first, I thought it was some sick joke.  It never occurred to me that pornography addiction would ever leak into my life or affect me in such a deep and excruciating way.  I’d never thought too much about that particular aspect of people’s lives until it glared at me in the face through dark and wicked eyes.  At first, I thought maybe I called the wrong number.  I thought there isn’t a way in the world this could be true.  I pleaded with God: “Please no… No. No. NO!  Please don’t do this to me!”

The phone fell out of my hands and hung up before I had a chance to say much more.  I wanted to scream.  I wanted to cry.  I wanted to kick and punch the wall.  But in that moment, I felt paralyzed. I had a sudden frightening sensation of someone grasping at my neck as if someone or something was attempting to suffocate me to my death.  

​It wasn’t long before I found myself sobbing and screaming uncontrollably.  Between sobs, my heart felt morbidly dysfunctional and stone cold.  Little did I know it would feel like that for a very long time.  I firmly called my wedding off as I sat across from the man I loved who suddenly seemed to be a stranger.  I spent the night restlessly in a panic with uncontrollable tremors from my head to my toes.  Everything felt dark and empty, and I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe the sun wasn’t going to come up in the morning this time.  Maybe I’d be swallowed up by this suffocating darkness for the rest of my life. 

The occurrence of events after that is irrelevant.  Looking back, everything seemed blurry and painful for days and weeks on end.  It was all over with him.  But the pain wasn’t.  And it wouldn’t be for a very long time.

The days passed in everyone else’s world, while my time seemed to have stopped.  Time for me was now measured by all of the different kinds of agony I was feeling.  It seemed to change so frequently.

At times I felt as though someone had taken a dagger and fiercely pierced it into my heart.  Over time it would then slowly be yanked out and then thrust back in again.

​I almost always felt on the verge of tears.  And no matter how hard I tried to keep them inside me, my tries were futile.

I couldn’t eat.
I couldn’t sleep.
Everything felt lonely.
Everything reminded me of him.
Everything made me feel overwhelmingly sick to my stomach.
I felt paralyzed.
I felt traumatized.
I felt worthless. 
And I felt incredibly afraid.
There were lots of times where I felt uncontrollably numb.

​I’ve scrolled through Facebook countless times and have seen all of my friend’s wedding announcements and happy wedding days.  When this whole journey began, I didn’t understand why the whole world seemed to be able to marry the first person they were engaged to.  And I didn’t understand why everyone else deserved love and happiness, but I didn’t.  I felt like I’d been robbed…  Robbed of my eternal marriage and cheated out of my eternal family.  And unfortunately, this feeling of being robbed was accompanied by emotional pain and suffering I never even knew existed. I didn’t even know that all of my extreme thoughts and feelings had a name.  But for some reason, once I found a name for it, I felt less alone.

Dr. Jill Manning, a marriage and family therapist and Certified Clinical Partner Therapist, defines trauma as “a deeply distressing or overwhelming experience that is commonly followed by emotional and physical shock. If left unresolved or untreated, traumatic experiences can lead to short and long-term challenges.”  Dr. Manning then goes on to state that “betrayal trauma occurs when someone we depend on for survival or are significantly attached to, violates our trust in a critical way.”

Considering the fact that there’s a clinical name for it, I don’t believe that betrayal trauma is a rare condition.  Nor do I believe that the number of people that are affected by it are small in number.  Unfortunately the world we live in is filled with evil influences, traps, and snares that lead people to make poor choices, and therefore hurt the people that they are supposed to be loving the most.  I suppose that’s why it’s so important that we cling to a loving and merciful Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ who is always the way back to hope and healing, no matter how far you’ve strayed, or whether you are the victim or the perpetrator in any given situation.

​For my particular situation, I was the victim.  And in such cases as mine, I had to reach the point where I stopped seeing myself as a victim, and saw myself as a woman of God with innate power and ability to experience healing and wholeness once again, which is exactly what I intended on doing…