“I had offered to help my then-boyfriend unpack boxes for his new home. Knowing I was still sensitive to items from the life he had before me, I offered to unpack the living room. I came across something which stopped me in my tracks. I immediately felt sick to my stomach. ‘Am I as pretty as she is?’ I began to feel extremely insecure.”
‘Oh gosh, it’s THE VIDEO.’ The one from his first wedding. ‘Does he love me as much as her?’: Woman finally accepts being second wife, stepmom, is ‘thankful for the experiences he had because they shaped him to be who he is today’
‘She was 50 pounds lighter. She looked like she had it all, but was an absolute wreck inside.’: Woman loving life 50 pounds heavier, ‘I sleep next to a man who loves the soul within my body’
“She walked to class day after day conscious of how she carried herself, hoping to draw attention from the athletes. She’d come home from another expected night of being taken advantage of and destroy herself — she was too fat, too quiet, too loud — too much, yet not enough. She fell into the arms of men who only loved the body she hated. Now, I sleep next to a man who loves the soul within my body.”
‘I make mistakes. I snap when I should be sensitive. I lecture when you needed a hug.’: Mom wants kids to know even when she fails, ‘you are my treasure, you are my reason’
“When I look at you I am SO. PROUD. In this family we will make mistakes, but we will keep doing it together and we will keep holding each other other tight. I’m never going to be perfect, but I am always and forever yours, and I’m always and forever on your team. That I can promise you.”
‘She’d been faking it for 10 years. I was kicked out. ‘Dustin, I’m gay. Say goodbye to our dogs.’: Man finally ‘healed’ after wife comes out as gay, ‘I wish her all the happiness in the world’
“I’d done everything I was supposed to do. I found a woman I loved. We had a house, dogs, great jobs. We were the rock solid couple to be envied. I cried for the first time in 10 years. ‘If you don’t leave, I’m calling the police.’ Something inside me cracked and fell away. I couldn’t speak. I was left to pick up the pieces of my white-picket life. Worst of all, I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone.”
‘I used to be a ‘mean girl.’ I look back and wonder, ‘How on earth did this happen?’ It’s simple: I hated myself.’: Woman admits to ‘cowardly’ past, claims ‘dimming another woman’s light doesn’t make yours shine brighter’
“I was a mean girl. Not the glamorous kind that wear pink on Wednesdays, but an insecure girl that ran with the ‘popular’ crowd. Truth is, I’m not even sure how I earned a spot there. It never felt natural. It felt like a competition to stay there. I was so busy trying to fit in and that I ignored my moral compass. I was a coward. If you look back on your school days and remember a time someone made you feel inadequate, know you were not. We were.”
‘Explain this.’ It was printed copies of every text I’d exchanged with my previous girlfriend.’: Single dad’s harrowing experience dating a narcissist, urges ‘even the strong can succumb to the cunningness of this evil’
“She had brainwashed me. She made me go through my social media accounts to explain my relationship with every female friend I had. If they didn’t meet her criteria, they needed to be deleted. My girlfriend ruthlessly pounded away at me with accusations of not being honest. It was torture. We would stay up all night arguing, the sun would rise, and I would go to work. She was obsessed with it.”
‘I’d kill myself if I looked like you.’ Everywhere I went, I was the center of attention. I accepted that dying wouldn’t be such a bad thing.’ Man with venous malformation birthmark finds ‘happiness and confidence’
“My birthmark grew bigger and bigger. I got used to others pointing me out, whispering, laughing. Throughout my teenage tears, I avoided public places, family events. Any situation that involved people. I always put on a brave face, but in the background my confidence was constantly taking a hit. I couldn’t bring myself to face the world.”
‘My daughter, who is always listening, said, ‘I bet she will say, ‘OH, NO! It’s fine!’ But deep down, she will be angry at you.’ That is what my 9-year-old daughter has already learned. From me.’
“I lie awake after parties and wonder if my joke was taken the wrong way. Whose feelings did I hurt? I apologized to my daughter for my actions that lead her to think women had to hide. That pleasing people should be a top priority. The truth is enough.”
‘A boy tapped me. ‘Why do you have a mustache? What’s that mark between your eyebrows?’ I was shocked. My face flushed with embarrassment.’
“My mom started letting me wear concealer. I wouldn’t allow myself to go out in public without my ‘mask’ on. I was terrified of what people would think if they saw me in my raw state.”
‘I was a prisoner to thinness. I’ve gained 75 pounds. But something miraculous happened.’: Woman overcomes eating disorder after sexual trauma
“I was 6 when I wore my first bathing suit in a beauty competition. I was 8 when my dance instructor told my mom I was too chubby. I was 15 when I became addicted to diet pills. After seeing myself go through so much to bring my children into the world, I now know that worthiness is my birthright.”
