From Refugee to Success

My life is overflowing with gratitude, achievements, and success. I can barely believe a girl from a refugee camp could be so successful as to own her own women’s lifestyle coaching business.

I have overcome my struggles with depression, obesity, alcoholism, severe back aches, and child abuse. I have changed my story and have the power to change my mindset. I am honored to be working with women around the world who have overcome adversity. My specialty is helping woman from rough backgrounds who are ready to make major life changes.I get to help women around the world find happiness. I help them discover their passion, and fully fall in love with themselves. I help them design their life by guiding them through a series of questions and helping them create goals to achieve their full potential dream life.

I am living my dream life. I am now married to an amazing husband who supports me in personal growth. I have three kids who are in college. I have amazing friends who I get to travel with and go on amazing adventures with.

My life was not like this ten years ago. My rough past story was keeping me in the dark. I was depressed and overweight, so I used food and alcohol to comfort myself. I associated drinking alcohol with finding my happiness. I was on three anti-depression medications that made me feel tired and kept me asleep most of the time, so I was not very motivated. I didn’t have a plan, and I involved myself with people who caused more chaos in my life, which led to the wrong relationships.

I thought that the best way to love myself was to find relationships. I thought that if only I could find a guy who would fix me, rather than me fixing myself, I would feel complete. Well, that wasn’t true; each guy who came into my life just used me and made me feel worse. I was on a mission to find someone to love me, since I didn’t know how to love myself. I felt ashamed, unworthy, and undeserving of anything good. I avoided looking deeply at what I was doing by numbing myself and escaping my emotions.

As I would later realize, my behavior was emotionally and physically unhealthy; my actions were merely hurting both me and my kids. But although I wanted to change, I didn’t love myself enough. I was obese, depressed, and not motivated.

I knew I was meant for something big. I knew my darkness was keeping me from living the life that I really wanted. I dreamed about having a loving husband, traveling, having friends. I wanted the kind of friendships I saw on TV, but I didn’t know how to go about getting what I wanted. I literally lived in my sadness story, and I was stuck.

Gradually, I learned how to love myself. It all started when I joined several communities. I started walking and watching what I ate. I lost 80 pounds. Losing weight increased my self-esteem, and it gave me the confidence to do bigger things, like trying a dance class, going to the gym, and lifting weights. I read self-help books and went to conferences. I stopped taking anti-depressants. I surrounded myself with positive women. I started challenging my body to do bigger things like climbing mountains.

I literally let myself enjoy life. I let my body go on adventures I never thought I was capable of. I embodied a deep love of life. I became more than just that girl from a refugee camp—I became a woman who found freedom and genuine happiness.

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About the Author | Rukshana Triem

Rukshana Triem is a former refugee and Immigrant from Mozambique. She came to the United States in the 1990s. After overcoming sexual abuse, she became an advocate for parents and childcare providers to support them on their healing journey. She is now the CEO of her women's coaching business, where she helps women overcome their rough pasts and create their desired beautiful lives through nature retreats and different online coaching programs and communities. Rukshana holds a B.S. in Human Development and has also worked as an early childhood teacher, trainer, mentor, and social worker. When she's not working, she's spending time with her family, volunteering, and taking women on outdoor adventures.

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2 comments to "From Refugee to Success"

  • Chad

    Bravo Rukshana!

  • Paula

    Learning to love oneself!… a short sentence ..but a huge life changing experience!
    Thank you so much for sharing and encouraging other by doing this!
    The outdoors adventures really appeal to me! Something I would love to try again.