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‘We Have No Visible Finish Line’—The Case for Why Moms Are so Burnt Out

This is why moms are always so quick to snap. This is why we are so sensitive. Because we are desensitized. We are numb. We are so beyond burnt out.

14-Year-Old Boy In Foster Care Asks For “A Home and People That Love Me”

What Darrious hopes for most is a family, and a place to call home. He is currently in foster care and lives with other foster kids in a group home.

Jill Duggar to Dad Jim Bob: “You Treat Me Worse Than My Pedophile Brother”

A new, scathing memoir by daughter Jill Duggar Dillard released this week, and an excerpt published in People Magazine shows that it does not portray Jim Bob Duggar in a positive light at all. 

“I Didn’t Want to Die. Tears Rolled Down My Cheeks as the Fear Consumed Me”: Woman Who Battled Anxiety, Anorexia & Addiction Finds Hope and Healing

As I moved from room to room of my childhood home, the pictures my Mom had scattered on the shelves and walls over the years caught my attention in a way they never had. There were photos of me in youth sports, school pictures, my senior portraits, and decades worth of family celebrations and vacations – all of which I had seen thousands of times. But, for some reason, on this particular day, I noticed something very different about them. Something was missing.

Courtesy of Lauren Costello

Before I get to what that was, allow me to take you back to the very beginning…

I grew up the second oldest of five children in a loud, traditional, Irish Catholic family. My parents believed strongly in praying, playing, and eating together. It was the glue that, despite hard times, kept us a unit. In our household, there was never a shortage of love, opinions, hands, or commotion.

Courtesy of Lauren Costello

But, being a highly sensitive, introverted, middle child, I experienced everything around me in an exaggerated way. My thoughts and feelings contained an innate intensity that, as a young girl, I didn’t know how to turn off. I felt anxious in a room of noise, scared of confrontation, exhausted by emotional stimulation, and overwhelmed by social situations. Most of my family members were extroverted and didn’t seem to be rattled by the things and situations that left me feeling distressed, frightened, and unsafe.

As a result, the belief that ‘something was wrong with me’ cemented itself as the foundation of my very impressionable psyche. This manifested into full-blown anxiety by the time I was six years old. I would beg and plead with my parents to not make me leave the house or be forced to do something like a sleepover at a friend’s house or go to swimming lessons. I felt different. But I didn’t want to be different. I wanted to be like them. I so desperately wanted to feel like I ‘fit-in.’ And so, my disappearing act was born.

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Lauren Costello
Lauren Costello
Lauren Costello, 36 lives in Philadelphia, PA where she writes a recovery and personal transformation blog. She is currently in the process of starting her own coaching business in hopes of helping women and young girls foster an unwavering love and acceptance of themselves. She is passionate about using her battles with Anxiety, Anorexia, and Addiction as well as her strong faith to empower and inspire others. She enjoys meditation, dancing, coffee, reading and laughing. Her dream is to write an award-winning book! You can follow her journey on Instagram @lightupwithlauren.

‘We Have No Visible Finish Line’—The Case for Why Moms Are so Burnt Out

This is why moms are always so quick to snap. This is why we are so sensitive. Because we are desensitized. We are numb. We are so beyond burnt out.

14-Year-Old Boy In Foster Care Asks For “A Home and People That Love Me”

What Darrious hopes for most is a family, and a place to call home. He is currently in foster care and lives with other foster kids in a group home.

Jill Duggar to Dad Jim Bob: “You Treat Me Worse Than My Pedophile Brother”

A new, scathing memoir by daughter Jill Duggar Dillard released this week, and an excerpt published in People Magazine shows that it does not portray Jim Bob Duggar in a positive light at all.