I love your site, Allison, and how beautiful are you? Wowza, girl!

I think, as women, we expect way too much of ourselves and try to fulfill that expectation. Even though I have no children at home and had all the time in the morning to write my morning pages, it was still difficult for me. Handwriting is tough. I began to just read the chapters and underline what spoke to me.

Something of interest: After we've left an abuser who demands so many things, we continue in the pattern of demanding from ourselves. For years, I would have a lazy afternoon and want to take a nap and would even try but my guilt of not doing something would take over and I'd be back up doing something. There wouldn't even be someone in the house to make me feel guilty but it happened anyway.

Many victims will leave the abuser to only continue in self-abusing ways. It's almost like we feel that we deserve it.