The Moment of Truth - Hero, Victim * Villain
- theoverflowlife
- Jun 13
- 2 min read
They met at a weekend retreat, none of them expecting to confront the stories they were silently living.
Jordan always played the hero.
He was the one who kept everyone together.
He was the fixer. The strong one. He was the dependable one.
However, beneath the constant activity was a person who was deeply afraid of falling apart.
He believed that if he continued to push through, the exhaustion would eventually subside.
But during a group circle, someone asked,
“Who takes care of the hero when he’s tired?”
The question struck him deeply.
He broke down. He broke down for the first time in years.
That night, he sat with a counsellor, not seeking solutions, but seeking recognition.
He realised strength isn’t in saving everyone else; it’s in letting someone hold you, too.
Maya had been living as the victim.
Life had dealt her an unfair hand: broken trust, early loss, and deep neglect.
Her heart was a battlefield, and her story was stuck in a loop:
"This always happens to me. I have no choice.”
But at the retreat, as she listened to others' stories, something shifted.
Pain wasn’t just hers - it was human.
She finally spoke in the group. Her voice trembled.
But afterward, a therapist gently said,
“You don’t have to carry this alone anymore.”
So she signed up for trauma counselling.
She stopped running from her pain and started walking through it with help.
She realised healing doesn’t make the past disappear; it just gives you power over how the story ends.
Tunde knew he was the villain in others’ stories.
He had pushed people away, used anger to control rooms, and carried sharp edges wherever he went.
But no one knew he’d learnt to survive in a home where silence meant danger.
At the retreat, during a session on emotional masks, someone said,
“Sometimes the ones who hurt the most… hurt others first.”
He felt seen. Exposed.
Later, he asked one of the facilitators, “Do people like me ever change?”
She looked at him and said,
“Only the brave ones who ask for help.”
So he started therapy.
He extended his apologies to the friend he had abandoned.
Learnt to name his feelings before they became fire.
He realised he wasn’t evil, just unhealed. At last, he no longer felt isolated.
At the end of the retreat, the three sat side by side in the moment that could be tagged ’The Mirror in the Middle” experience, where all three genuinely found themselves.
They had walked in with labels.
Hero. Victim. Villain.
But they left with something far more powerful: the courage to let others walk with them.
Healing doesn't require self-sufficiency.
It’s about being honest enough to say, “I need help.”
They must have the courage to accept the assistance.
The three of them sat together.
Different stories. Same choice
To stop pretending.
It's important to cease enduring pain on your own.
We should begin the process of healing together.
You don’t have to carry it all.
Ask for help.
Let others in.
Rewrite your story.
Healing isn’t about being strong. It’s about being honest.
Thanks for sharing.