“I got married at 20; we were all young. My friend and I were literally making up from a fight when I told her I was getting married. ‘Will you be my maid of honor?’ I asked. She and I stopped talking after the wedding. Some friends are lifelong, and some are temporary.”
‘Her boyfriend told my photographer, AT MY WEDDING, ‘Yeah, I don’t really like Harley.’ I’m not close with any of my bridesmaids.’: Woman urges ‘some friendships end because they need to’
‘Sometimes saying ‘I’ve had enough’ is the most generous thing you can do for yourself.’: Woman urges ‘not every relationship is salvageable’
“Walking away from a toxic situation, environment, or person doesn’t mean you are ‘giving up’ or ‘overreacting.’ It simply means the pros no longer outweigh the cons. Sometimes, walking away is the healthiest thing you can do.”
‘I didn’t know there was a problem. If she’d been honest and said, ‘Hey, I don’t like you hanging out with my ex,’ we could have worked it out.’: Woman navigates adult friendships, boundaries after friends’ break up
“My friends Tina and Conner broke up. I won’t go into detail, but we all know the saying, ‘There are 3 sides to every story — his, hers, and the truth.’ Is it wrong to want to remain friends with a friend’s ex? He and my husband were friends, and honestly, we missed hanging out with the guy.”
‘I went back to work. We needed an income. I’m just going to say it, I don’t feel guilty. I love it.’: Mom enters workforce after 5-year break raising babies, ‘I still wanted my identity’
“Love makes a home, but it doesn’t keep one, and we needed an income. Is there guilt? Well, I listened to the PTA president of my kid’s school talk about how good it is for mothers to be involved. Thanks Betty! Perfect timing. Then there’s missing the baby because he’s asleep when you left, and asleep when you get home. But I’m just going to say it, I don’t feel guilty. I love it.”
‘It happened. My husband messaged a woman I didn’t recognize. What I saw made me cry.’: Woman celebrates mental health growth after discovering her old texts, ‘I am nothing like that woman now’
“He was showering after a long day with our kids and happened to leave his phone on the table. Unlocked. For some reason, I felt compelled to look at his messages. I scroll up, hoping to see some cute old texts we sent months back. I wanted to re-read them, to smile. What I saw, made me want to cry. The person he was texting was a very broken woman.”
‘I used to be a bully. I was awful, and I wanted so badly to be liked.’: Woman admits to feeling ‘pang of guilt, shame’ at being childhood bully, proud of her ‘efforts to better herself’
“I was terrified my classmates wouldn’t see my worth. So, I threw rocks, said ‘bad words,’ and acted tough. The worst, though, is that I befriended kids I knew would let me get away with treating them terribly. I took advantage of them and their effortless kindness. I never want to be the cause of pain for anyone. It’s one of the worst things in the world to feel worthless. I know because I’ve been a bully to myself as well.”
‘Weeks before boot camp he said, ‘What if we get married?!’ I knew the risks. The statistics were against us.’: Military spouse candidly recounts ‘navigating the chaos’ of young marriage, pregnancy
“When I got pregnant, we had a fairy tale image of what our little life would look like. We went from the comforts of our family homes to living off ramen. From regular date nights and weekend outings to sleeping in shifts. We barely spoke. Our connection and intimacy had gone numb.”
‘When the stylist asked me what I wanted, I replied ‘Cut it off! Please just cut it off before I lose my nerve.’ Without hesitation, she grabbed the scissors and began to chop.’
“I found myself staring at the reflection of a woman I hardly recognized. Her hair an unkempt mess. Eyes dark and tired. Skin dull and sullen. She looked like she had given up on herself, and in a way, she had.”
‘SAY IT RIGHT NOW – Say the nice stuff, the uplifting stuff, the encouraging stuff, the emotional stuff. Pick up the phone. Start texting. Drive to their house.’
“I was filled with so much regret afterwards that I’d waited until after he was gone. Why do we wait? Why do we have such a hard time telling people what they mean to us?”
‘He screamed horrible things at me, broke my wall mirror, cornered me and told me he’d murder my family if I left him as he shook a butcher knife in my face.’
“I realized I couldn’t remember when I last had a period. I took a pregnancy test when I got home. It was positive. I was pregnant. I was freaking out.”
