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Dear NICU Mama,
@dearnicumama

46,264 followers

When you’ve experienced trauma, the future doesn’t always feel like a safe place. It is gray. Uncertain. Unknowable. For those of us who have seen how things can go wrong, it can be difficult to view the future through anything except through that lens. Instead of seeing all of the beautiful moments awaiting us, we feel haunted by what we might lose. Instead of anticipation, we feel anxious. Instead of feeling excitement at the question, “What next?” our stomachs sink with dread. This is our heart’s way of protecting itself, of shielding us from another painful shock. It is not shameful: it is survival. 💕 But, try not to linger on these feelings, NICU Mama. Recognize them. Validate them. And then, with the knowledge that things don’t always go according to plan, choose to soften. Choose to be vulnerable and to let yourself dream. Hope can feel scary and like you are opening yourself up to heartbreak, but you’re not. Not truly. Hope is a blanket we can relax into on cold nights, when things feel empty and dark. It can warm us and give us a soft place to land when our feet are tired and our hearts heavy. It lifts us so we can see over the mountains we are climbing to a gentler horizon. You are not jinxing your future by daring to imagine something different. You are not negating where you are now. You are laying the path ahead. Things may not always go according to plan. Things will go wrong. This isn’t failure, it’s life. But so long as you give yourself permission to dream, to hope, to imagine and to strive for more, you will travel in the right direction. 💕 Trust in your heart. Trust in your strength. Trust in your compassion and the power of the love you bear. As you walk forward, remember all that you have overcome and give yourself space to imagine what could be. Yes there may be uncertainty, but remember NICU mama, you are not on this journey alone. 💕 #dearnicumama #nicuawarenessmonth