3 minute read
Too Much To Lose
By Abigail Teixeira
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Have you ever been at a place in your life where you knew you had too much to lose if things did not change immediately?
Well, my story begins when I found myself in that very same place, I just spoke about, 6 years ago. I had hit rock bottom and not the kind you picture when you think about somebody’s lowest point in their life. You see, my rock bottom was an internal one, because on the outside looking in, my life seemed great. I had a flourishing career as a nurse, I was newly married to the love of my life, we had a nice home, new cars, and were traveling often to places like Europe, south America, USA, and all over Canada.
On the inside I was slowly killing myself, I was in so much emotional pain and was carrying around a heavy load of deep shame, guilt and dark depression. At the time, I had not learned any healthy ways of coping with it all, so I had long turned to self medicating with substances, mainly alcohol.
As a second-generation immigrant, my upbringing was turbulent, and I experienced a lot of traumatic events in my childhood. My parents were young and new to the country, their main focus was to provide food and shelter for me and my two sisters. They both carried a lot of generational trauma as well from what they experienced and
witnessed during the civil war back in their home country of El Salvador. Naturally, with no kind of help or healing themselves, they transferred that trauma down to us as their children.
The first time I tried alcohol at age 15, I felt like I had finally found the solution to my problems. That “solution” quickly became THE problem, and I began a downward spiral that would leave me shattered and broken, a shell of a person by age 29. Here I was, at a crossroads, knowing that I had one of two options, quite simply and terrifying, either change or die. Author and life coach Tony Robbins has a famous quote that says
I love that quote because it embodies where I was that fateful summer of 2014. I had reached the threshold of pain in my life and knew it was time to make some major changes...and my healing journey began. For the next 6 years right up until today, I have dedicated myself to a tremendous amount of inner work and personal development. I now have a treasure trove of tools and healthy coping skills and an incredible support system to be able to flourish as a wife, I have been sober for 6 years and I am proud to have broken generational chains. Having struggled with postpartum depression and anxiety after the birth of both my babies, who are 2 and 8 months, and using my newfound coping resources, I have also now become a Maternal Mental Health Advocate, with a heart and passion to serve women in recovery, immigrant/refugee women and moms struggling with perinatal mood disorders. Truly miracles do exist, and they come in the form of massive change and transformational work. I found a way of turning my pain into gifts, to be shared with others in order to inspire, relate, heal and change.
Let’s discuss how I can help you set up the right plan for you to begin your healing journey & transformation. I would love to chat and get to know your story on a complimentary
Please go ahead and book a time for us to connect. Calendly.com/abbyteixeira
Whatsapp: 780.231.4790
discovery call.
Abby is a second generation Latina Canadian whose parents immigrated from El Salvador. She’s had a successful career in nursing for the past 13 years and volunteers her time to several organizations in the city with a focus in helping immigrant/refugee women and children, ending gender based violence as well as facilitating peer support groups for moms facing perinatal mood disorders and leading new moms groups. She is a wife, mother, entrepreneur and mentor.
