Comment by Olivia on 23 Oct 2011 at 3:36 pm

Dear Karen,

Switching Time is surely the most fascinating book I ever read.

Half the time I was crying because of all the suffering you had to take. The other half i was stunned and fascinated by which mechanisms our brain manages to protect our soul and with this keeps it alive.

Having suffered a partly abusive childhood myself I’m still struggling to leave the past behind and to forgive.

Your strength and courage are a big inspiration to me.

Thank you for sharing your story and god bless you!

With all the best wishes from Spain,

Olivia from Spain

Dear Olivia,

Thank you for your kind thoughts and compliments! I am sorry to hear you cried but glad to hear you could empathize with my story and healing. I believe multiplicity is a God sent coping mechanism. I believe that God couldn’t prevent all that happened to me but was able to provide me with an amazing way of keeping the trauma and abuse fragmented until I was able to deal with it as an adult.

I’m sorry you suffered an abusive childhood yourself. It’s never fair or the fault of a child. Though it most certainly is difficult to leave one’s past behind and move forward, I found it necessary in order to heal. I’d rather forget my past but I admit triggers may come and go. What’s most important to me these days is whenever a trigger drags me back to a dark thought or hurtful past I acknowledge it, deal with it by putting it back where it belongs. I try my best not to allow my past to affect my present and not to allow past pain into my future. For me, forgiveness is a must. If I dwell on the abuse that happened to me then my abusers have won. I no longer wish to be a prisoner of my own life. I chose to live.

I hope my answers help bring understanding.

God bless you,

Karen