IN YOUR OWN WORDS TIME TO STAY STRONG, SELF AND KEEP LOVING SELF. RAELENE JOHNSON DENVER VOICE VENDOR WELL, SELF, WE HAVE to stay strong again. We have two more surgeries coming up. By the time this writing is published, I will already have had one surgery, and I have a second one on June 19th to repair my hand from surgery on it last year that didn’t go well. We have to keep our spirits up! Things in life don’t always go smoothly, and when the rocky road starts coming your way, you need to be able to handle the bumps that will be on the road. I did not know how strong I really was until after going through the cancer and surgeries last year. I’m a lot stronger than I really gave myself credit for! You have to keep telling yourself you can make it, even if it’s only for that moment, or that day that you survive, and give yourself credit that you were able to get through it. You cannot give up when hard times come your way! Challenges will always come our way but it’s how we handle the situation that determines whether we’ll actually get through it or not! We cannot give up on ourselves because once you give up on yourself you have defeated yourself! I choose today not to defeat myself by saying “I can’t,” or “It’s too hard,” or “I don’t think that I can.” Thoughts like that have a way of defeating us, making it very hard for us to continue moving forward. When the negativities come into your head, you have to release them immediately because that is just the enemy trying to mess with you and trying to destroy your spirit. I choose today to let no one destroy my spirit, and if I don’t let anyone else destroy my spirit, why would I do it to myself? We are the only ones that can be strong for ourselves! You are worth being loved today. You are worth having good people around you. You are definitely worth loving yourself! If you can’t find love for yourself, get help because your spirit is very lost, and you have to find your way back to yourself. Finding oneself is not always easy. It took me many, many years to be able to find my true self. It’s amazing how good you can feel when you find your true self! I know today that I am worthy of all good things that come my way! I thank my higher power for the trip that I made last month for my first speaking engagement, which was in Alabama. I had four beautiful days of speaking engagements, and it went very, very well! I got to talk to the mayor of the town I was in, and he is interested in getting a street paper started there! I got to speak at a women’s shelter to women with their children. I got to talk at a rehab center because I’m now 17 years clean of crack cocaine and alcohol. I even got to speak to a church that creates prayer shawls for people dealing with cancer. I got to share my story of my survival with them. I also was able to lay hands on the shawls, and everybody prayed over them. Then, they honored me with a prayer shawl, and I picked a beautiful purple and blue one. When you wrap yourself in it, you can actually feel the love because from the first stitch to the last, the people making them are praying for the person who will receive it to have love, peace, and healing all woven into the shawl. I cannot believe I had my first speaking engagement and it went so well. I’m looking forward to many more to come in the future. Just know that no matter what you’re going through – even if it feels like hell itself – once you come out of that, you will be a powerful testimony to somebody else who needs to hear kind words or loving thoughts from somebody else who has experienced hell! When you see someone else that is going through something really hard and has come out of it, know that you too can come out of it. You can’t feel that you can come out of it if the person telling you has not struggled with anything you’re going through. It won’t work that way. You have to advocate for yourself and find the right people to help you if you need it! I just can’t believe, Self how far we’ve come, and I’m looking forward to the journey that we are on to continue. May everyone who’s reading my words truly love themselves and truly expect the best for themselves! I love you, Self. Thank you for being strong! 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. COMMUNITY PROFILE DONATE YOUR CAR! COMMUNITY PROFILE Need to get rid of your car, truck, or motorcycle? Consider donating it to Denver VOICE. Call (855) 500-7433, or go to: careasy.org/nonprofi t/denver-voice. Your donation helps Denver VOICE succeed in its mission to provide individuals experiencing homelessness or poverty the chance towards a more stable life. WITH YOUR HELP, WE CAN DO THIS. DENVERVOICE.ORG/DONATE 12 DENVER VOICE June 2025
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