My Greatest Adventure

Journaling reads:

It may sound cleshay but my greatest adventure has been to know
myself. It is an ever evolving process. Even now at almost 40 I am
learning about myself and who I am. I am sure that will continue
through out my entire life.
I grew up in a happy home but I had a father that was controlling and
manipulative. That has impacted how I see myself and my ability to be myself. Luckily I have had some wonderful people in my life that have
helped me to be able to become the person that I want to be and to be
able to recognize the manipulation and get myself to a place where
I am not controlled by it.
The person that has been the greatest influence on this adventure has
been my husband. When we meet in college I couldn’t even get myself to express an opinion about where to go out to eat. I would not express my opinion, even when I had a preference, just in case it was not where he wanted to go. If I expressed my opinion and he made his choice based
on what I wanted that would somehow be wrong. looking back it is hard
to believe that I actually felt that way.
I am so grateful that the man I married saw this in me and rather then taking advantage of how easy it would be to control me helped me to become my own person. He helped me to talk and to make choices and decisions for myself that not only effected me but other people. Over time I was able to realize that my opinion and my happiness is just as important as anyone else. And it is also okay if my opinion differs from someone else. Once I was able to realize this I was able to do a lot of self searching and thinking and allow myself to figure out what those opinions were.
I do find myself still reverting back to my old self at time. This adventure to know myself and become my best self is going to take a lifetime. But I am so glad that I started this journey and for the people who are now
such an important part of that adventure. I can not imagine
my journey with out them.