“I pulled over. I was sitting on the side of the road, shaking as I held my son’s little hand – completely unaware of what was happening. Cars sounded louder, the sunlight brighter. The back of my neck felt like a claw squeezing me. I could no longer take a deep breath. I was holding on for dear life.”
‘Honey, can you come pick me up? I think something is really wrong with me.’ I felt strong vibrations all throughout my body.’: Woman shares tips for managing anxiety, ‘I used to think self-care was mani-pedis and face masks’
‘I watched more than a few of my friends commenting negatively on how they look now. Girl, stop glorifying your past self just for being skinnier.’: Woman reminds us ‘comparison is the thief of joy’
“Maybe your waistline grew this past decade (GUILTY, FRIEND), but so did your family. I fear for a time when my daughter would choose to comment only on her WEIGHT in her joyful photos. People preach about the importance of self-love and ignore the elephant in the room.”
‘We are merely surviving as we fight it. We are going from one doctor’s appointment to a test to another treatment. Let’s be honest, cancer SUCKS.’: Woman’s has realization in cancer journey, ‘Cancer did not take from me. I took from it.’
“We didn’t choose cancer. It chose us. Getting up was a choice.”
‘I got home and literally nothing from the grocery list I gave him was in the bags. Not a damn thing.’: Woman urges ‘show your partner grace through the struggles’
“Marriage isn’t always two people who are on the same team. We are not always on the same page, and we do not always like each other. But we made a vow to make this work, and that is what we are doing.”
‘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’
“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.”
‘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.”
‘If I’m so smart, why aren’t I a success yet?’ I was so hung up on this idea of what success was, I didn’t care if I was happy.’: Woman urges ‘you are a success in your own right’
“If your childhood was anything like mine, you grew up with your parents saying you were going to ‘be something’ one day. I was so hung up on this idea of what ‘success’ was. A 9-5 Monday through Friday gig, making more than $70,000 a year. I didn’t care if I was happy, as long as the job matched those criteria.”
‘My husband texted me a photo of her, sitting in the doctor’s office getting her pink cast on with her Mom. My heart hurt, but I couldn’t express it.’: Stepmom says the key is to ‘step up, step back, and step over’
“I burst into the tears during that scene and immediately excused myself to get more popcorn. I would give my two cents on Joe’s response to a text or an e-mail. Joe and I would end up fighting about a conflict that wasn’t between us to begin with! In the words of my dear friend Elsa… ‘Let it GO!’”
‘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.”
‘It’s been 4 years since we last spoke. I heard you met someone new. Am I the bad guy, or does she know the truth and love you anyway?’: Woman abandoned by father says ‘you can’t base your self-love on who loves you’
“My dad walked out of my life when I was 20 and never looked back. I wonder if you saw me in the street, would wave or just keep walking. See, all of my favorite things about myself are you. Your sense of humor, your ability to make friends, and really, really good hair. I call someone else ‘my dad’ now.”
