“I was in line for the fitting room when the lady in front of me commented she really liked the pants I was holding. ‘Thanks, I’ve really been needing to buy some post-pregnancy work pants,’ I said. ‘Oh, where is your baby while you work?,’ she asked. Nonchalantly, I replied, ‘He goes to daycare and really loves it.’ As she walked away, she mumbled it. When she said it, I knew she just didn’t know.”
‘Must be nice to have a vacation from your baby every day.’ Tears welled up in my eyes. I know she didn’t see it.’: Mom’s emotional encounter with woman after son endures open heart surgery
‘My marriage reared it’s ugly head. I was at a fork in the road. I could leave and save myself heartbreak, or I could stay.’: Woman finds ‘strength’ to divorce abusive husband, admits there’s ‘beauty in vulnerability’
“I never planned on writing my story. While I was more fearful of the future than I care to admit, I remember leaving the courthouse the day I filed for divorce feeling like I could breathe for the first time in years. It was the feeling of freedom. For years, I allowed the world to wash over me, resigned to the lies I’d been told about who I was, who I wasn’t, and who I could never be. On the hard days, I have to remind myself to call these thoughts what they are: lies.”
‘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.”
‘I called off the wedding 3 weeks before the date. It’s shaken me to my core. I could not call him my husband.’: Woman leaves fiance, celebrates her ‘triumph over this horrible experience’ on would-be wedding day by rocking her dress
“I felt like I had been picked out of the crowd; I was the lucky winner of a long sought-after prize. When red flags began to appear, I willfully ignored all of them. His proposal was my long-awaited goal. I had done it! It felt amazing to wear my beautiful engagement ring. But I was crumbling on the inside. I escaped the house through the second story window.”
‘Nothing as grown-up as putting $1.67 on your Visa. I could feel Dave Ramsey’s disappointment wash over me.’: Woman realizes your ‘worth doesn’t change’ after embarrassing moment in drive-through
“I needed a cold drink. It was so hot outside, and I was so thirsty, and I just felt a stirring in my soul saying, ‘stop at Sonic, girl, and get you a Route 44. Think about that tiny crunchy ice. You deserve it.’ I am not one to ignore heart whispers, so I stopped, thinking I had enough change to buy it in my center console thingy. But I thought wrong.”
‘We are critical of women who wear too much makeup. We are critical of women who are bossy.’: Mom insists it’s time to stop ‘constant criticism’ and ‘encourage instead’
“Anyone else exhausted, feeling like no matter how hard you try, you just can’t get it right? Like everyone is watching, waiting to tear them down? It’s time we stop forming cliques that leave people out, and start forming communities.”
‘He always watched porn because ‘he wasn’t getting any.’ He started pressuring me for sex, belittling me in front of his friends.’: Woman raises sex trafficking awareness after suffering in her own abusive relationship
“I was told to make an effort to look better, dress in a sexy manner. He would show me the kind of pornography he enjoys. I found so many messages he sent to women he claimed were his ‘friends.’ When I confronted him about it, he laughed.”
‘At 15, I became pregnant with my daughter. I had to raise a child while still growing up myself. I received hate and rumors spread.’ Teen mom beats the odds to graduate college and ‘reach success’
“Everyone recognized me by pregnant belly, rather than by my face. I dealt with dirty looks and whispers in the hallways. In college, I got pregnant with my son. It wasn’t easy. I have been in abusive relationships, been days away from planning a wedding, only to find out I was ‘only an option.’ I wanted to give up, on everything. But I was strong for my children.”
‘I was teased that toothpaste had calories. I hated the whispers and stares. I thought it was cool to not get my period anymore. I’m ashamed of this.’: 43-year- old mom finally confident in body image after struggling with eating disorder most of life
“It intensified when I left my parents’ home and went to college. I drastically reduced my food intake. I hate thinking about the look of shock, disappointment, and concern on my mother’s face. She hadn’t seen me since Christmas, so when I came home for Spring Break, my mother was worried sick over my frail appearance. I felt guilty, but not guilty enough to change.”
‘My wife cut her wrists. I’m not ashamed, I’m not embarrassed. This is my wife, and she is dealing with pain.’: Husband unapologetically tells his boss of his wife’s trauma, struggles
“I was a child who was told to shut up when I cried. I learned to suppress deep inside. And it erupted like a volcano. I’m in a hospital bed because what I did was a cry for help.”
