An excerpt from Noel's story:

"This realization was nauseating and liberating. I felt a peace I had never felt before. I had become this weak whimpering woman and suddenly I found a backbone. I found my voice. I learned what I am worth. And it was a lot more than he ever allowed it to be. My life is now uprooted, but it was MINE. I was empowered. I get to make decisions for myself. I learned that I am a complete and whole person. I am strong and resilient. I am adaptable when needed but no longer a door matt.

The fortress was built during this reclaiming of my life. It was built quickly and sturdily and built to last. Being a natural people-pleaser I needed those walls to prevent me from ever being in that position again. But, the fortress serves me well, albeit sometimes a little too well. I used to feel guilty about having a fortress about me, but I have come to learn, that it is what gives me strength to keep moving forward.

Never let someone else make you change who you innately are just to avoid conflict. Being a natural people pleaser doesn't mean you have to become someone else to please that person. Hold fast to who you know you are."

Thank you to Guardant Health for their support of the Still I Rise Podcast. Guardant Health is a leading precision oncology company focused on guarding wellness and giving every person more time free from cancer. Their blood and tissue tests help improve outcomes across all stages of care; they can screen to help find cancer early, monitor for recurrence in early-stage cancer patients, and enable timely and targeted treatment selection for those with advanced cancer. For more information, visit guardanthealth.com and follow the company on LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and Facebook.

View Noel's video version of this story at: / younightstories

You can also find the video version of this story on our YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdiqPH-w1iWHUiC4yfgecTIlr703lqw57&si=Ai8lVX93vYJsGDJP

You can also follow us on our Story Crafting Community page: https://www.facebook.com/YouNightStories

Support the show

Still I Rise features stories from You Night's STORY CRAFTING COMMUNITY. To read additional stories, visit our Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/YouNightStories. Would you like to participate in a 6-week Story Crafting small group experience so that you can share your story? Write to us at teamyounight@gmail.com

You can also find the video version of this story on our YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdiqPH-w1iWHUiC4yfgecTIlr703lqw57&si=Ai8lVX93vYJsGDJP

You can also follow us on our Story Crafting Community page: https://www.facebook.com/YouNightStories

Support the show

Still I Rise features stories from You Night's STORY CRAFTING COMMUNITY. To read additional stories, visit our Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/YouNightStories. Would you like to participate in a 6-week Story Crafting small group experience so that you can share your story? Write to us at teamyounight@gmail.com