“I put on a show for the sake of others, all the while denying myself the opportunity to live authentically.”
‘I spent my whole life trying to fit in, suppressing the things about me that made me different.’: Woman diagnosed with autism at 41
‘Today, for the first time ever, I had to call an ambulance because of my anxiety. Unable to breathe, I threw up and broke down screaming, ‘Why me?’: Woman shares PSA on reality of anxiety
“Anxiety isn’t just having a hard time catching your breath. If you know someone who struggles with panic attacks, please be there for them.”
‘She’d look back on her life and think SHE was the reason I drank. It was just too much.’: Mom details sobriety journey, daughter’s battle with Type 1 Diabetes
“There was no intervention. No one said ‘We think you have a problem.’ There was no rock bottom. It was waking up one morning with my daughter asleep in my arms next to me and worrying about her future.”
‘It’s been years since he could ‘see’ my face. But he got to hear me laughing through my tears as I recited my vows.’: Woman shares her marriage, pregnancy journey with husband’s vision loss
“It makes me sad to know he couldn’t see me on our wedding day, or when we were engaged, or when I told him I loved him for the first time. But love has overcome all of these sad truths.”
‘I received a recall letter in the mail from the manufacturer of my implants.’: Mom of 4 details sudden journey with breast implant illness, pre-menopause, alopecia, and separation all in same year
“My right implant had ruptured and was leaking. Then, just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, my guy of 4 years walked out on me; he couldn’t handle all of it anymore. I lost most of my own breasts, then my partner, and now my ovaries were shutting down, too.”
‘The world needs you. Not despite the darkness, but maybe because of it.’: Man shares open letter to those considering suicide
“I had a plan to die once. I knew exactly how I was going to do it. The darkness crept in until it nearly took over everything. But here I am, writing to you, telling you the darkness doesn’t last forever.”
‘I’m never going to be who I was before he died. Nor do I want to. And that’s OKAY.’: Woman shares recovery story after grieving husband’s death, ‘I know he’s happy for us’
“Someone told me I’d grieve FOREVER, so that’s what I believed.”
‘The other day I was texting a new guy and felt the need to inform him I was a bigger girl. His 5-word response shook my soul.’: Woman receives touching reminder ‘a girl isn’t her size’
“I don’t know if we’ll ever become anything more than just two strangers who exchanged words the 21st century way. But I do know one thing: I will never forget him. And when you find the winning words that make you see so clearly through the fog, you hold onto them for life. And you share them with the world, too.”
‘My son invited me to the gym. I told him I couldn’t go until I was closer to the ‘old version of myself.’ How could I work out in public where people could see me?’: Mom learns important lesson on self-love
“I wanted the version of me from six years ago. She was 60 pounds lighter. She ran 5k’s. She spent 12-14 hours each week at the gym. She was a size 8. And, as teenagers are so good at doing, my son called me out on my bulls–t. And I needed it.”
‘It shouldn’t hurt that bad.’ I was weak, lazy. A complainer. Only 15, doctors had already given up on me.’: Woman diagnosed with Lupus after years of misdiagnoses urges ‘find someone who will listen’
“I could not find my words. I slurred my speech and often got lost driving to places I’d driven to a thousand times. My doctor finally explained pregnancy posed ‘too much of a risk to my life.’ But come December, I saw two little lines on a stick. This little one was determined.”