Ghosted, But Not Gone: 2 of 4-Part Blog Series & Reflection Questions

Blog 2: I’m Happy For You (And Also, Not Okay)

This blog dives into the emotional dissonance survivors often feel—celebrating someone else’s win while silently grieving your own loss. It validates the hurt that can live beneath a brave smile.

You can be happy for them and still be healing for you.

Sometimes the hardest smile to wear is the one you give while someone else receives what you prayed for. You clap. You nod. You send the “So proud of you!” text. And then… you fall apart in your car afterward.

This is what no one talks about: the inner tug-of-war between gratitude and grief. You’re happy for them—but not okay for yourself. And that doesn’t make you bitter. It makes you human.

What does it mean LIVE BEHIND A HOLLOW SMILE.  No more is what I hear from most survivors. Living in abusive relationships requires no freedom from their power and control tactics to isolate and keep the victim dependent.  Survivors want to live authentically. With real smiles and no more pretending. How many of us have had to live disassociated from our day to day lives.  The ongoing trauma of living with an abusive partner changes your response to fear and everyday safety for years to come.

Often when we are forced to now work with a new partner to schedule child visits or we have been ghosted in the boardroom by professional colleagues. In any fashion, it still ties to the core of rejection. You  have value. No matter what is said, or who comes after you, you had value at the time you served in the role.  There is strength you should claim in knowing you survived the situation and lived to speak about it on the other side. Your story can and will bring help and hope to another person one day.

Ecclesiastes 3:4 reminds us: “There is a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.” Sometimes those moments happen all at once. God never asks us to pretend joy. He invites us to be real—and trust that healing follows honesty.

Ghosted Blog 4 Part Series Reflection Questions List

Dr Brooke Jones, Founder & President Stronger Women [email protected]