Broken to Brave

So much of my life has been spent worrying about what other people think. I stressed over what people would think of how I was dressed, my hair, my …

It seems there are endless ways to numb out these days. We don’t have to look very far for ways to distract ourselves. The problem is that it only …

Tattoos are a way of marking a moment or a feeling or an event. They tell a portion of our story. They are a visual reminder and I desperately needed a visual reminder that I am safe. That I can let go. To pick up that …

So often I have kept my life small by avoiding situations that scared me. The only way out of that pattern is to root out where you are still stuck …

I have always tried to control my environment in order to feel safe. I don’t like to even go to a restaurant without reading everything on their …

Sometimes things ended up on my list because I pushed through tremendous fear to achieve them and then there are times like this where the list takes on a mind of its own. I was gaining so much confidence by this point …

I’ve always hated to make or receive phone calls. I’m sometimes okay once they get started, depending on the person and the reason for the call. More often than not, however, I end up talking over the person or having …

I’ve always been jealous of people who could use sleep as an escape. Sleep, for me, has always been a struggle. I wanted it to be a time of peace and …

I had a lot to overcome to accomplish this step. I had tremendous guilt about taking/using resources whether that was material goods, money, time, etc. I was stuck in a scarcity mindset. I also held myself to a standard …

By this point in my journey, I was realizing how taking these steps had released me from so much of my generalized anxiety. I was doing things without overthinking. I was calmer. I was breezing through parts of my day …

Music has always been my lifeline. There are songs that saved my life, songs that gave me strength, songs that made me feel I could take on the …

With all the fears I’ve had in my life, I don’t think there was one that rivaled my fear of public speaking. Facing this fear head-on was absolutely …

Sometimes the path to healing involves a game show, a microphone, and publicly failing...in front of a live audience and on multiple live streams. …

By now, I was starting to realize how much I kept myself back from really living. Trying to be invisible takes a lot of work and it’s exhausting. My …

I've never been one to do things without overthinking, planning every detail, and considering every possible outcome. It was always easier to get someone else to just do it for me. This time I didn't allow myself to …

I've let so many opportunities pass me by because I wanted to be invisible.  I was always too afraid of ridicule or judgment.  I knew, this time, …

I spent my adulthood saying no to so many things because I was afraid I would look stupid or because I was ashamed of my body. This was a huge …

When you are raised in chaos and have no safety net, you develop tools to survive. One of the tools I used was to attempt to control as much as I …

When I found myself at this step of the journey, I was still avoiding the pain and doing my best not to acknowledge my triggers. I would act out. I …

I spent my life avoiding pain. I’d dissociate. I’d escape into worlds I created in my head. I was so scared to let myself feel the feelings because I …

This is where my journey to bravery began.  To break out of my fear and heal my life, I challenged myself to do 50 brave things in one year (my 50th). It wasn't easy. Trauma needed to be healed and fears had to be …

Southgate Media Group is proud to introduce the most personal podcast it's ever presented. Broken to Brave follows the journey Martha W Southgate …