But here’s the truth: you’re not an impostor; you’re just healing from years of being made to feel small. The reason you doubt yourself isn’t because you lack skill or intelligence; it’s because someone once made you question your worth at every turn. Dr. Tara Brach, in Radical Acceptance, explains that self-doubt is often a learned response—a survival mechanism from an environment where nothing you did was ever enough. The challenge now isn’t proving yourself; it’s believing in yourself. Your achievements are real, your success is real, and most importantly, you are real. The only thing that was ever fake was the lie that made you doubt it in the first place.
Narcissistic abuse changes the way you see everything. It’s like wearing a pair of glasses that make the world look darker even when the sun is shining. But here’s the good news: you can take those glasses off. Healing doesn’t mean forgetting what happened; it means learning to see the world through your own eyes again, not the distorted lens of abuse. And little by little, as you choose yourself, set boundaries, and surround yourself with healthy people, the world starts to look a lot brighter.
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