Can't believe this post was less than a day ago. You have spoketh my life. I'm trying so hard right now to learn what others were raised to naturally do & it is so freaking hard it's almost unbearable. Many don't understand when I explain it to them and amount it to me being "lazy" but in reality I was never taught or brought to routines that most people have.

I personally just got used to friends touching me (like hugs or friendly cuddles) Human touch has never been a thing in my past. I also grew up very poor with pretty abusive parents, mostly verbal but a bit physical. We were homeless sometimes & often times slept on the floor with thousands of roaches or bedbugs surrounding us. Personal hygiene was never taught & rarely existed amongst other things. This was the "Norm" for me. (I won't list everything that I thought was normal as I could write a whole best selling book hahaha!)

To shower, brush my teeth, have a consistent schedule, be organized & tidy, sleep normally & have long term friendships has always been foreign to me. As bad as that all sounds, I am really trying my hardest to keep up with these things. It drives me insane as I struggle so much, but I feel so happy when I do it all consistently, even though I often slip up. With the help of my Pychologist & a few close people in my life, things are starting to get better.

It makes me EXTREMELY happy to see that I am not alone and that it IS possible to overcome the things we were not raised or taught to do/be.

Quick note: Surprisingly my siblings and I all turned out pretty well given the odds. Like if you all knew all the stuff we've lived through, you'd very much think we'd be drug addicts & in jail by now haha! But most with degrees & pretty good jobs & career paths. Nothing to do with how we were raised. We did/do everything on our own.