Being forthcoming about the struggles we go through in our personal lives might be hard at first, but as the journey continues, we can find just how much sharing a story can help others cope with their own demons. Regardless of what you believe, and how you feel, helping people discover that they can be more than whatever has happened to them is a pretty big step in the right direction, and that’s exactly what our guest this week is here to talk about.Cinda Stevens Lonsway is an author from the Portland area, and she’s seen her fair share of struggles, trials, and tribulations. In this episode, Cinda regales us with what she’s been through, how it affected her personal life, and how she helped herself—and others—by finding what she believes was her true calling. (Before we start, allow me to mention the inclusion of triggering themes that Cinda discusses, including violence, PTSD, and potential rape.)IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN:When it all started for Cinda, she was starting her life in retail. However, through her life, she worked up through volunteer work and becoming a mother. As she advanced, however, she realized that she began to realize that she was experiencing rage in a way that she wasn’t familiar with, or that she understood, and it scared her. Through some internal work and deep thinking, it occurred to her that she was reliving an experience that happened when she was 19 years old, which (at the time she didn’t understand) was PTSD.From there, Cinda tells us her story—at age 19, while she was renting a house in the Portland area with her friend, a stranger broke into the house and attacked her. For 3 hours, she fended him off, preventing him from committing awful acts of violence, and possibly ending her life. After that night, this man spent 2 - 3 months stalking her to the point where—when she had an opportunity to leave—she took it immediately. This man has yet to be caught, Cinda explains, and she never received any traditional closure.Through this, Cinda tells us what she went through as she aged into motherhood, falling into the feeling of pure panic at not being able to protect herself, and her children, from a possible attack. This fear and anger turned into the rage due to the feeling of being out of control against her personal demons, and she tried to control everyone and everything around her. The rage (which she categorizes as a lot of yelling) and these feelings after 5 years drove her to her lowest point, where she explains that she was ready for these demons to take over.Cinda explains that it was here where her spiritual journey started—when she was feeling this low, a voice called out to her in the middle of the night, saying “Cinda—learn to love your enemy, and there you will find your peace”. Through this, she claims to have called the spirit of her attacker into her room and expressed a love for him. Not a human type of love, but a divine love. Through this, she felt like her journey towards healing had finally begun.Moving forward to near present day, Cinda tells us about what happened that inspired her to write her book based on these events and her process: I Know Now: A Woman’s Healing, Violence to Victory, Trauma to Truth. A three-part saga, Cinda tells her story of what happened, how her rage turned her to that low point, and the spiritual journey that she went on in order to heal from her emotional wounds. In her words, Cinda believes that there’s a spiritual awakening happening across the planet, and there’s always a moment where we decide if we’re going to awaken to a new way of living, or if we’re going to resign ourselves to what we’ve got.Cinda also explains that, while she was growing up, she wasn’t a particularly spiritual child. Being raised Episcopalian, she had an attitude towards things that were deemed “traditional”. However, as she came into her own, Cinda does admit that there’s a difference between spirituality and religion.