“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.”
‘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 think you may have Asperger’s,’ my boyfriend said nervously. He broke up with me, unsure he wanted to see me anymore.’: Woman diagnosed with autism in adulthood learns to ‘umask’ and embrace authentic identity
“I didn’t know what to think. Immediately after our conversation, I started googling… and very quickly, it became apparent to me that for the first time ever, my life was finally starting to make sense.”
‘Why did you even have this child, Kelsi? You’re failing him.’ I heard voices tell me to plan my death or my baby would die, and it would be my fault.’: Brave mom of 4 candidly shares journey with postpartum psychosis
“I’d close my eyes and see myself holding my son’s lifeless body. I couldn’t get that image out of my head or decipher whether it was real or not. I wanted him to have a life full of love and fulfillment, and realized my only escape was to end my life. Stained with tears and folded neatly into my bible, I wrote my goodbye letter.”
‘Stop begging God to take this away from you. He gave it to you for a purpose.’: LGBT woman pens powerful letter to past self after coming out of closet
“Right now, I know it seems like there’s no escape. That no matter how hard you try, how fast you run, how fiercely you try to claw your way to freedom from yourself, you sink deeper and deeper into the quicksand of shame and self-resentment. Dear Kahrin, you don’t believe this now, but you will be loved.”
‘I met a girl at a party last weekend. Funniest girl I’ve ever met. So I tried to be hilarious, too. And it made me feel tired.’: Woman shares important journey to self-love, ‘I’m my own bully’
“I saw a mom at my son’s school yesterday. She packed her kids healthy lunches and they actually freaking ate them. So last night I tried to force-feed my kids carrots and meatloaf, and they cried.”
6 Ways To Support Your Loved One After Miscarriage
“One in four pregnancies end in loss. It is time to open the dialogue.”
‘They ‘must not enjoy their kids’ if they want to be away from them. We call them ‘attention seeking’ or ‘self-centered.’: Mother urges for ‘less jealously, more camaraderie’
“They are ‘lazy’ and ‘unmotivated.’ We call them ‘attention seeking’ and ‘over-sharers.’ Their insatiable need and desire to socialize is selfish and irresponsible.”
‘I couldn’t explain to my boyfriend why he HAD to keep the light off, why I couldn’t come out of the bathroom.’: Woman embraces acne after hiding it for 10 years, ‘This is the REAL me’
“I waited nervously for the audible gasps. ‘Have you tried washing your face?’ I was the class guinea pig. I always assumed people were laughing at me.’’
‘Today a friend shared on social media that her medically complex son isn’t sleeping and she’s tired. ‘You should be grateful your son is alive.’: Special needs mom calls for end to ‘Gratefulness Shame Game’
“She was told, ‘You should be grateful your son is alive.’ As someone who sits through my own season of suffering, I’ll tell you: most of us know the Good. But it does not negate the suffering. They just co-exist.”
‘My 5-year-old turned to me, suddenly serious. ‘You shouldn’t eat too much, Mom. Or you get fat like Christy and Tammy.’ I felt tears tickling my eyes.’: Mom urges ‘all bodies are valid’
“We sat down to watch another episode of Scooby-Doo. My daughter laughed as Scooby and Shaggy devoured a pile of hamburgers. ‘They ate too much!’ she giggled. Then she got serious. I felt tears tickling my eyes. Christy and Tammy are two of my friends. This is the curse that has been placed on me, on so many of us.”
