Out Of The Darkness: Abi Caruther’s Perseverance Story
Three years ago, Abi Caruthers was homeless, sleeping on a friend’s couch. She was without money, job, or any idea of how to improve her circumstances. Even so, this wasn’t the darkest point in her journey. But, when she pulled herself back up again, this time she made sure it represented the dawning of a new life.
“For a while, I had this niggling feeling that I wasn’t doing everything I could to be my best self,” she says. “I didn’t want to go through the hard work of having to face everything from my childhood, but I knew I was capable of getting there.” Raised in England, Caruthers attended boarding school as a young child. One day, her mother dropped her off and never returned. Caruthers spent the rest of her childhood in foster care. “Even in the middle of the darkness, I knew this would only be my life for a certain period of time,” she says. “I never gave up hope that, one day, everything would change.”
At age 19, Caruthers made a fresh start, moving to the United States. It took several years before she consciously decided to take responsibility for the direction of her life, and gain the strength needed to do so. Caruthers remembers sitting on her friend’s couch, and committing herself to doing the hard work.
“I knew I wanted to help people,” she says, “and I tried so many different things in my search to discover the best way to do that.” Reading a book about hypnotherapy proved instrumental in finding her calling. Caruthers enrolled in a good school and began creating powerful, positive change. “I faced the anger, the guilt, the shame, the forgiveness. And despite what I went through, I made a decision not to let it affect what I became,” she says. “I confronted everything and used it to fuel my growth rather than continuing to see myself as a victim.”
Caruthers had found her light. “I wouldn’t be able to know incredible brightness if I hadn’t come from real darkness,” she says. “Now, I get to guide others in the direction of expressing the unique brightness of their souls.”
Today, Caruthers is the top certified hypnotherapist in the Santa Clarita Valley, helping people discover their purpose, empowerment and inner strength. In addition to her private practice, she directs the local support group Women, Inspired, and she is president of the nonprofit 100 Women for One. “It’s the most fulfilling work I could ever dream of,” she says, with deep happiness resonating in every word. “I’m living my passion.”
The chapter of the little girl abandoned at school is only the beginning of Caruthers’ story. Her subsequent victories are the truths she’s discovered through a determined, enlightened search of her own soul. Today, she is fortified by her work and courageous in her love for herself and her community. Through perseverance and hope, Caruthers inspires others, spreading the light she’s found within herself; and she is happy.
“Don’t think you’re alone or that you have to do it by yourself,” Caruthers advises those struggling through a dark period. “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you must. Together, we truly can create our own destinies.”
By Kirsten Quinn | Photo courtesy of SchlickArt