Thread by @KirstiMiller30

10 years ago I was homeless living on the streets of Sydney after surviving a gang rape. I nearly gave up.

10 years on and I have almost 5000 beautiful friends.

Never give up you never know what tomorrow will bring❤️❤️

When I was homeless in 2011, I was given the most beautiful meal at the Sikh Temple in Gelnwood. It was the first day in 12 months that I felt completely safe and I was not being judged. I will be forever grateful for that day.

No one at the Temple cared that I was a transgender woman they didn't care if I wasn't bathed they just treated me kindly. I could not carry all the takeaway food that was given to me. I had survived a gang rape only a year before. The men at that Temple made me feel safe again.

I met some of the worst people whilst homeless & conversely I met a lot of very kind people as well. Another time I was in a very poor way near Bass Hill & this very muscular tattooed Vietnamese guy helped me out.

After a short time I realised that he was an ex inmate a lifer that I used to look after whilst working in the prisons. I told him who I was and he didn't flinch. He took me to his family home where his elderly mother spoilt me for a week.

I am so happy I survived, I am so glad I never gave up on my dreams. I would like to share a few ways that helped me survive. If I wake up feeling down I push myself to shower and make myself look and feel presentable.

I try to do some physical activity something I like doing to help take away the excess energy.

I grab a piece of paper and make a feel good list. I write down the numbers 1 to 5 and write the 5 best things in my life right now.

I also have made a ” Kirsti feel good folder”, a plastic sleave folder where I put my favourite, pics, letters, cards, poems, songs anything that makes me feel good.

Every morning I wake up I look in the mirror & I say I am my own best friend.

There are some beautiful people in this world, people who won't judge you. Don't , ever give up on your dreams❤️❤️❤️❤️