IN YOUR OWN WORDS THANK YOU FOR SO BEING STRONG! BY RAELENE JOHNSON SO, IT’S BEEN A YEAR now since the car wreck last February, and looking back over the past year-and-a-half, I have to thank you, Self, for being strong for me. You helped me to keep a smile on my face. Even when we were going through our hardest days, you found a way to make me smile, and that helped get me through everything. The one thing you have to do when you are struggling with medical issues or whatever it may be is stay positive. So, we discovered that when you’re going through hardship, if you laugh and make jokes, it’s easier to get through the difficult times - at least it was for us, Self. Self, now that we’ve learned how to love ourselves and after all the work we’ve done to accomplish that goal, I know I can get through anything because Self helped me get there. Every time I thought it was too hard going through my cancer treatments, the inner self would say, “We got it. Come on, you can do it!” and I’m grateful for that! If you ever doubt yourself that’s when all the problems start because usually something inside of us will tell us something’s not right, and when we don’t listen, that’s when problems arise. The one thing I learned about love for myself is that I have to trust my inner voice to speak up when things are not right. I can’t just push it out of my mind and say, “I don’t know what I’m saying,” or “My feelings can’t be that important to pay attention to,” because my intuition will come up and usually that happens right when I need to listen to my intuition to keep me safe, keep my mind safe – that’s the worst thing people do is let go of their mind. Don’t give Self up for no one or nothing because once you do, you have lost the love of yourself and find yourself in difficult situations you never dreamed of. Everyone must realize you have to love yourself first before you can love anyone else! If you don’t love yourself, you don’t have love to share with others. You can’t give it or receive it if you don’t know what loving yourself is! People want to be loved, but when Self is broken, you can’t get love. If you can’t feel love for yourself, you can’t receive it, or understand how you can get it. You have to love yourself first. My prayer for the month of February is that everyone reading my words will say to themselves, “I love you so, and I will continue to trust you so don’t let the enemy come in and steal your love away from yourself” Say this every morning, every afternoon, and every night, and if you don’t believe it, keep saying it – over and over again – and one, day you will believe it! May you find love within yourself or with someone else during the month of love. Written with love. RAELENE JOHNSON, DENVER VOICE VENDOR. | PHOTO BY KAREN BEEMAN WINTER DONATIONS MADE EASY During the winter, Denver VOICE vendors experience increased heating and housing costs. Meanwhile, their income decreases because cold temperatures means less foot traffic and fewer paper sales. If you would like to help out your vendor by donating a few extra dollars, scan the QR code below to make a payment through Venmo. Please be sure to write your vendor’s name in the comments. Thank you! WITH YOUR HELP, WE CAN DO THIS. DENVERVOICE.ORG/DONATE @DenverVOICE CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS We are looking for volunteers to help us at community events, or to assist with paper distribution and basic office administration at our office (989 Santa Fe. Dr.). If you are interested and would like to know more, contact us at program@denvervoice.org. 12 DENVER VOICE February 2025
13 Publizr Home