My dad used to say, “If you think you’ve got it tough, there’s always someone else who has it worse.” Although he was right, his advice didn’t make enduring my lifetime of challenges any easier. I rarely share my story because it was filled with suffering, tragedy, and despair until, one day, my life miraculously transformed for the better.
I grew up in an alcoholic family. I’m the youngest of seven, and my parents had been raising kids for twenty years by the time I was born. They suffered from mental, emotional, and spiritual neuropathy. We were a household of victims.
I felt abandoned as a child; so, when my beloved sister was stricken with cancer, I felt blessed to have company. She was an amputee stuck in a bed, and I was the only preschooler left at home—we made an unlikely pair.
In that brief period before she died, I remember that my beloved sister gave me all her time and attention, providing a new, nurturing experience. Being with her made me feel like the dark clouds had opened up, and I was bathed in pure goodness. I wanted our precious time together to be endless. Sadly, at the age of five, I was told that my beloved sister was called home to live with God.
What kind of God would steal my loving sister away from me, especially when I needed her so much?
Our dysfunctional family was ill equipped to process grief. Soon, my grief, abandonment, and suffering turned to anguish and anger. It didn’t take long for the seeds of discontent to bloom into challenging life experiences.
I became a mother at a tender age and years later I found myself leaving a very difficult marriage. It was a dramatic end that felt much like jumping from a burning building into a sinking ship.
Getting back on my feet, I manifested my dream job. For a few years, I was putting our lives on track until life suddenly went downhill. I changed companies and went from a supportive work environment to what felt like the extreme opposite. On my seventh day in the new job, my daughter was involved in a horrific car accident that should have killed her. Instead, after six weeks in Critical Care ICU and after ten surgeries, she survived but was paralyzed.
She was a single mom. I took in her boys—ages four, six, and ten—while I had two daughters still at home and was living in a home just big enough for the three of us.
Life didn’t get better.
My paralyzed daughter fell into a hellish depression while her quality of care turned to abuse and neglect. A few years later, my middle girl moved back home with her husband and baby. I single handedly supported as many as ten people for three years, even in the face of the most difficult workplace experience. I felt suicidal.
It was an existence where I didn’t exist. What existed were constant demands, stress, pain, and work from morning till midnight. I prayed to die.
Ultimately, the breakdown becomes the breakthrough.
I realized that, much like my parents, I was suffering from my own mental, emotional, and spiritual neuropathy. I realized that, while my daughter was physically paralyzed, I was living paralyzed.
Then life changed.
Several people in my care moved out, and I left the corporate job. I spent the next year recovering and working on myself at a whole new level. I enrolled in the Bob Proctor Coaching Program and the Matrixx. I finally found the missing puzzle piece to creating a fulfilling life.
I had to let go of who I was so I could transform into the person I was becoming.
I continued working on myself, building my businesses and generating no income. Months later, when it was time to attend the Matrixx, I had just $800 left. How could I attend a six-day event away from home with only a few hundred dollars and zero source of income? How could I not! I had already made the decision to attend when I registered, and I wasn’t going to back out now. I felt something transformational would come from my attendance even though my mind said the trip would be irresponsible and to just go get a job.
My dreams were on the line, and life was compelling me to jump into the unknown.
I’m grateful that I trusted my inner guidance because I was subsequently blessed with countless miracles that manifested and continue to bless my family and me today.
Since $800 would cover half of the hotel bill, I asked if I could be paired with a roommate. Meeting her was a dramatic turning point for me, and a driving force of positive change. First, she immediately connected me with the Christopher and Data Reeve Foundation, which brought a miraculous turn of events for my paralyzed daughter. After a nine-year nightmare of abuse and neglect in long-term care, this connection is helping my daughter to finally move forward in her life.
Next, she helped my business to expand and grow exponentially. She also paid the entire hotel bill.
The impossible becomes possible when we let go and allow life to support us.
My entire world was transforming before my eyes, from a past of chaos and stress, hopelessness and despair, into a life of fulfillment. Each day has become a day filled with new blessings.
Miracles continued to unfold in the weeks that followed the Matrixx. I luckily received a complimentary travel voucher that enabled me to attend my daughter’s wedding and then visit my critically ill sister at a time when I really needed to go but was cashless.
Let go and life becomes miraculous and amazing.
Experiencing multiple breakthroughs elevated me to a new awareness, which included actual physical breakthroughs that took place simultaneously, like fixing a shattered glass patio door and installing a new foundation, landscaping, and siding. The internal and external rebuilding of my life was under way—it was as if life was dramatically cheering me on with the loudest, clearest physical evidence of breakthroughs.
It wasn’t long after that I met a wonderful man who has also brought me to an expanded level of love like I’ve never experienced. Finally, I made peace with my abandonment.
I successfully crossed over the bridge of survival from tragedy to all my dreams coming true.
I have left behind me a world of troubles where I felt pushed by life, and I am now living the life of my dreams where I feel empowered. I have survived harrowing difficulties. Now, I help people break through their challenges and transform their lives.
If your life is challenging, it will get better just as day follows night. Don’t ever give up. If I can survive and succeed after a lifetime of struggles, you too can breakthrough your life challenges and win!
Cathy Sever
Cathy Sever is an author, speaker, transformational coach, and voice artist. She has helped countless individuals break through their limitations and create happier lives and she recently released healing and motivational MP3 audio recordings called The Minute Mantra Series at www.overthemoonaudio.com You can also contact Cathy directly at [email protected]
