The other day I've had an epiphany that has helped me SO much against the constant struggle of SI.

The past year my SI got completely out of control and nearly became an unavoidable and frequent compulsion. A friend busted me out on it though and has been my main support in keeping myself from SI, and in figuring out why it is that I do.

At first my SI was a secret, something I could say didn't exist because no one knew. This is where my epiphany comes into place. I have never considered myself a cutter or self-injurer. However when I began to accept that that habit was very real and that other people knew, I began to identify with the self-injury as something that I did.

I had let it become a part of who I was, and I had let it own me. My epiphany is that SI is NOT a part of who I am, and it cannot own me. It is something I have done, and that I never have to do. It is not something that will forever frame my future. The SI I have done does not have to play a part in my personality.

So now I feel that I own the SI, that it's not a part of who I am. Merely something I have done in the past. Since this realization I have not had such a strong urge to SI. I haven't fought against the compulsion for the first time in a long time. I also don't feel like it's haunting me anymore.

So I just thought that perhaps I could share this and maybe it would help someone else. SI doesn't have to own you, or become a part of who you are. You are your own person, and you are strong, despite any weaknesses you may have. I believe this of anyone who does or does not read it.

Good luck to all of you, and take care.