I felt that no matter what I did, I failed to fit in and that my environment resented who I was. Moving back to Zimbabwe after growing up in the US, where my father raised us to become independent and strong women, was challenging. I was excluded by my peers at school, and I felt very lonely without friends. That resulted in suppressing my emotions and delving into performance as my value in life. As an adult, I jumped into failed relationships before I ended up in a controlling and emotionally abusive relationship. Driven by my subconscious wish to succeed in the eyes of my society, I pushed further into it while losing myself bit by bit until I could not recognize myself anymore. See how I reached a point where I couldn’t continue, and I decided to break out of the relationship. This allowed me to look at myself and face my deeper trauma. Learn how I found a community to share my emotions and how this allowed me to find strength in my vulnerability. I focused on developing myself; with it, I realigned the different parts of my identity and lived experiences. Since larger parts of my career and life were spent supporting others as a mental health professional, I now could utilize all my knowledge to strive in my journey. This allowed me to grow even further as a professional and use my lived experience in my work.