A note from Tim.
From an objective standpoint, I’ve lived a good life. I have a great family: a wife of 41 years, two adult children, one son-in-law, and one granddaughter. I’ve had a successful professional career. I’m probably the only person in the country to be an inventor on more than 325 issued patents and to have drafted more than 3,000 patents. I’ve developed a patent business methodology that changes how companies approach patents. I’m also founder, CEO, and primary inventor of Athalonz, which makes golf shoes that are disrupting the golf industry due to its patented technology.
Subjectively, I’ve struggled to feel good about myself or anything I’ve accomplished. As a young adult, I lived in a continual state of stress and fear; I suffered panic attacks; I hated my body; I felt I was stupid; I felt I couldn’t do anything right; I felt inferior to pretty much everyone; and I felt I was unworthy of anything but misery.
My negative feelings about myself stem from being abused as a child. I was sexually, physically, and verbally abused. I was a thing to my perpetrators. They instilled fear in me, they made me feel worthless, they made me ashamed of my body, they made me feel stupid, they made me feel that my life was meaningless, and they made me feel incompetent. They perpetuated these messages so often that they became my views about myself.
With the support of my wife, children, and friends, and with the help of therapists and treatment centers, I’ve been able to reduce my negative feelings about myself to the point where I don’t live in a state of stress and fear, I don’t have panic attacks, I know that I’m smart, I know that I can do a lot of things well, I feel I’m worthy of love and happiness, and I feel my life has meaning.
I still struggle with accepting my body (I don’t hate it anymore, but I’m not yet to the point where I like it or feel good about it). I still struggle with feeling good about my accomplishments (I can acknowledge that I’ve accomplished something, but I don’t feel good about it). And, I still struggle with feeling inferior to others, especially people in a perceived position of power and/or influence. These are the things I’m working on in therapy now.
Sadly, I’m not alone in dealing with such issues. It’s estimated that 1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men were sexually abused as children. That’s 20% of all people. In the United States that means 66 million people have been sexually abused as children. What’s sadder is that the statistics have not changed in 30 years.
The answer to reducing the rate of child sexual abuse is simple: Abusers need to “Stop Abusing Kids”. The implementation of this solution is not simple, but it can be accomplished. Stop Abusing Kids starts with a dialog and encouraging all victims of child abuse to heal their negative self-image issues. Since most abusers were themselves victims of child abuse, as they heal their issues, their compulsion to abuse others will diminish.
Promoting the dialog, encouraging victims, and helping them heal from their issues of child abuse is the mission of Interwoven Circles Foundation. Please show your support by engaging in the dialog of “Stop Abusing Kids” and in promoting victims to heal. If you would like to help more, please make financial donation.
Thank you for reading my message and for your consideration to support “Stop Abusing Kids”.
Timothy Markison
Founder