“I was six years old the first time it happened. He asked if I wanted to play a game called ‘Truth or Dare.’ By the time I was in middle school, I understood drinking. Suddenly, nothing seemed awful anymore.”
‘Your aunt’s house burned to the ground last night. Andrew didn’t make it out.’ For the first time in my life, I felt free.’: Sexual abuse survivor shares healing journey through sobriety and motherhood
‘Feed organic, limit screen time, support local, attend the seminars, limit sugar, potty train early.’: Woman reminds us ‘in a society that sets us up for failure, we don’t stand a chance’
“So much pressure from a world that wants you to succeed, but sets you up for failure. So much pressure from a society that is always demanding more time, more effort, more of everything you’re already doing, but less of your struggles, less of your complaining, less of your inability.”
‘I convinced myself I needed to commit suicide in order to keep my family safe.’: Man pays it forward after friend saves his life
“This time last year, I was waking up every day wishing I would die. Drowning in a sea of negative energy, I received a message from a friend who noticed something wasn’t right with me. Fast forward 365 days, I’ve never felt more alive.”
‘Collectively, we are going through one of the hardest times in history. Individually, we are all fighting our own battles others know nothing about.’: Burnt out mom urges ‘we can do hard things’
“These moments are here to teach us lessons, to break us down and rebuild a stronger version of ourselves. You are a warrior, you are a fighter, you are a survivor.”
‘I remember coming home from school, seeing you on the couch. You didn’t ask me how my day was. I get it now, mom.’: Mom battling depression, suicidal ideations says ‘your illness doesn’t make you a bad mom’
“It’s not that you didn’t want to get off the couch, it’s that you couldn’t. Your mind was so sick it made you physically unable to function. It made you so tired the most simple tasks felt like climbing Mt. Everest.”
‘The statistics were extremely stacked against me. Then, I was adopted.’: Former foster youth shares healing journey, ‘You are not responsible for what happened to you as a child’
“I experienced the stability and safe love I’d longed for years. And even though I tried to push it away, they never left me. My family was relentless in their commitment to loving me and helping me heal. No matter what I did – and I did a lot of things – they loved me.”
‘I’ve had their adorable sticky hands grabbing at me for 12 hours. I just want to sit in a dark room so I can think.’: Introvert mom urges there’s ‘nothing wrong’ with how you recharge
“It’s okay if being around your little ones drains you just as much as it makes you happy.”
‘I stayed in bed for hours of the day, didn’t eat for hours at a time, and lost a lot of weight. I felt like I didn’t matter to anyone.’: Young woman’s self-love journey started with a break-up
“Now, I always remember I am beautiful the way I am, inside and out. I wish I would’ve known that a long time ago.”
‘How can we do this every single week?’ My mama heart just sees needles, pokes, possible surgeries, and pain.’: Duchenne mom shares beauty of ‘running on faith’
“My strength is not what keeps me able to lift my boys, get up multiple times a night, or handle difficult medical situations. My strength is limited, and often my anxious mind depletes nearly all of it. I am not strong, but my faith is.”
‘After the abuse stopped, I looked at myself in the mirror and hated what I had done to my body. So I started to hurt it even more.’: Woman shares body positivity journey after abuse, eating disorders
“I needed to go into this journey for HEALTH, not because I wanted to look like this person or that person. It has changed my whole perspective. I am happy with my body again, and I am confident again.”