Cycle
The only way to stop the cycle is for me to remove my hands.
For as long as I am giving, you will take all that you can.
It goes against my nature and the lessons I was taught.
But then I was a child and had no other choice.
Today I stand with wisdom and the lessons of my years.
I choose to stop the giving, to allow us both to stand.
Annette A. Nelson
Awareness
Awareness is the answer. The key to a life well lived.
Aware and living in the moment, we are present with our past.
Open to the newness while knowing patterns repeat.
We accept who we are, living life in Truth and not defeat.
Annette A. Nelson
Boundaries
God grant me the courage to set the boundaries.
To hold the course, to love myself.
To let them go, to set their own.
To not pickup what isn’t mine.
Annette A. Nelson
Freedom To Breathe
You grab so tight, I cannot breathe.
You loosen your grip and I am free.
Love let loose begins to grow.
Freedom leads me back to you.
Annette A. Nelson
Guidance
Hidden treasures He lays before my day, calling me to rise.
“Come be with Me, walk with Me, Trust I’m by your side.”
“There will be trails and foes to fight and days that do not end.”
“But everything you need my child, I will place before your step.”
Annette A. Nelson
Present With Our Now
Dreams give us hope, something to strive for.
But if we are not present in our now, we will not have the tools we need in our future.
We will be in a constant loop of reaching back for what we missed and grabbing forward to leave where we are.
Annette A. Nelson
Triggered
Past feelings rush back to me.
Sanity runs quickly out the door.
My walls go up, yet I remain defenseless.
I become deaf, as you try to plead your case.
Reason will not fix me, for I simply need to cry.
Then go back once again, and rehash all those lies.
Annette A. Nelson
Accepting Truth
People tell us who they are. We choose not to listen.
In our effort to be happy, we refuse to see the grey.
We add color and pretend that it is real.
We are deceived because we only see the colors we’ve added to the canvas.
And so the fantasy Begins………
Annette A. Nelson
Bottom
I am not afraid of the Truth.
My fear lies in deception.
My triggers are inconsistency and contradictions.
Denial is my bottom.
Annette A. Nelson
Living With Our Past
How do we live in the moment, with our past, happy, without letting down our guard??
Grounded in the Truth, we step out
Cloaked with all our lessons, protected by what we’ve learned.
Opened to the future, wide eyed with anticipation.
Timid and with caution we move forward and leave the past behind.
Annette A. Nelson
All the poems above are from Annette A. Nelson’s first book, “Inward Bound”and from her current manuscript. “Inward Bound” is a spiritual book expressing the journey of recovery through poems. The author uses poetry to revel her deepest fears and the hurt and confusion that comes from living with unhealthy people. As the author takes an introspective look at her life, God teaches and heals.
Photography by Annette A. Nelson.