Aspire Magazine: Inspiration for a Woman's Soul.(TM) Apr/May 2018 Aspire Magazine Full Issue | Page 23

churned up residue from childhood, from past relationships, and the stories that made up my ‘love story’ and the distorted filter that I viewed love through. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DON’T DEAL WITH THE ANGER AND BITTERNESS? I never would have uncovered and healed that story if I hadn’t been broken open. I felt that I had to dedicate the book to him because of the growth, powerful healing, and transformation that I experienced from having a broken heart. The anger and bitterness become terrible poisons within your soul and permeate every relationship, not just the next partner, but the rest of your family, your happiness, and your joy, until you’re so disconnected from yourself. YOU DEDICATED YOUR BOOK TO YOUR EX-HUSBAND, AND THAT MAY SURPRISE A LOT OF WOMEN. WHY DID YOU MAKE THIS CHOICE? I believe that through our shared experience, he became my greatest teacher, so far. Yes, he has caused me heartbreak, but through that pain, I was forced to look within and dig deep into the unhealed parts of myself. This WHAT WAS HIS REACTION? We are on wonderful terms now, and when he read the dedication, he cried. He said, “I shudder for the pain that I have caused with my unconscious behavior for a woman that was and continues to be nothing but love and light to my family and me.” WHEN YOU EMBRACED YOUR WOUNDED CORE, YOUR DEEPEST FEARS CAME TO LIGHT. WITHIN THAT, YOU FOUND A WOMAN WHO STANDS IN THE TRUTH AND WHOSE GREATEST SOURCE OF LOVE IS HER OWN BRILLIANT HEART. WHAT WERE SOME OF THE FEARS THAT YOU HAD TO FACE ON THIS JOURNEY? I faced the fear of being alone at my age, of having made a terrible mistake, and of not honoring myself in the marriage. I had this terrible gut feeling that I had brought this on myself like many women feel after a betrayal. We ask ourselves, what did I do to deserve this? What was in me that wasn’t good enough for my partner? 23 was another way to view and experience all of this. I became aware of my choices, of how I wanted to deal with betrayal, and how I wanted to feel a year or two out.