The Shells That Shaped My Life

Significant events shape our lives. Their impact can be harrowing and protracted if they are not recognised, addressed and dealt with. A single event, like abuse or divorce can affect a person for the rest of their life causing a ripple effect of secondary issues emanating from the pain. How does one escape the tentacles extending from agony they suffered at some point in their life? Do they allow this pain to continue to freely infiltrate and permeate their future or can they curb its reach and manage to live a full life even though horrible things may have happened in the past? Farikanayi explores her own pain, its source, its impact, its extent and how as a Christian she has found ways not only to excavate the issues she had buried and ignored for close to half a century but to also analyse them and cancel out the devastation they were causing in her life. A message of hope is stretched out throughout the book with the deliberate refusal to accept a 'victim' label. There is also a definite dose of optimism as the issues (or shells as they are referred to in the book) are explored and exposed, leading to the conclusion that regardless of how one's life begins or is interrupted, it can still end well if one refuses to remain in a place of anger, pain and bitterness. In each person is an in-built ability to bounce back and start again and where one feels hopeless, or overwhelmed, hope can be drawn not only from seeing those who are overcoming, but also from receiving help from God himself who promises to be ever-present.