60 People On The Hardest Truth They Had To Accept That Made Them Stronger

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1. “After my son’s death I understood how life’s not infinite, and how everyone we know including us is going to disappear, and we can’t predict or schedule or postpone that”. – Mary, 24

2. “That depression is actually a disease.” – Gil, 26

3. “Saying no is healthy and the only way to protect yourself.” – Amalia, 32

4. “That my parents are going to die.” – India, 25

5. “That my husband is not coming back.” – Angelica, 27

6. “That I’ll never be younger than today.” – Alex, 29

7. “That surgery will never make be beautiful again. But I can choose to be beautiful in my own way.” – Bradie, 34, survived breast cancer

8. “That my sister killed herself from depression, and that it was not my fault.” – Bobby, 30

9. “That getting an abortion won’t make me happier than having my baby.” – Sara, 19

10. “That I’m not perfect.” – Barbra, 23

11. “That I’m gay.” – Gimmy, 21

12. “That I don’t have to convince anyone about veganism.” – Elena, 28

13. “How fragile love is, and how strong it feels when it leaves.” – Barry, 35

14. “That taking psychiatric drugs was probably a bad idea.” – Ginger, 22

15. “When I understood that my parents will never apologize, but I’d still have to forgive them.” – Michele, 42

16. “When I got fired over my alcohol problem and the next day my girlfriend left me. It’s been three years and I’m completely sober but I still cannot completely forgive myself.” – Albert, 32

17. “That I don’t need to be everybody’s friend.” – Gemusa, 24

18. “That my boyfriend didn’t want kids.” – Ann, 29

19. “That sex work is the best paid PR work out there. Tell this to all the agencies that refuse to hire you after graduation.” – Natasha, 26

20. “That I will hurt people unwillingly, and they will hurt me too.” – Becky, 28

21. “That I am allowed to be mad at people.” – Carmen, 24

22. “That I drank all my friendships away.” – Burt, 29

23. “That I earn more than my partner and it’s not his fault.” – Berenice, 31

24. “That I can wear whatever I want, despite what my mother thinks, despite what my mother says about me.” – Julie, 18

25. “Finally I was ready to have children..then suddenly my ovaries didn’t want to cooperate any more.” – Marie, 38

26. “That I will not marry the love of my life.” – Celeste, 26

27. “That you can’t change who you are.” – Paris, 29

28. “That my boss married my sister – he’s at his fourth marriage.” – Claude, 25

29. “That I will stop trying to lose weight, because I like myself chubby.” – Corrine, 19

30. “That she cheated on me with my brother.” – Adam, 34

31. “That I have to accept my wrinkles.” – Geena, 35

32. “That nothing gets entirely better with age, we’re still figuring it out, dipping ourselves in existential mud, just with less time ahead of us.” – Gary, 31

33. “That I shouldn’t have waited ’till marriage to lose my virginity.” – Maria, 29

34. “That my parents abandoned me, but I will never abandon my family.” – Gabrielle, 32

35. “That my divorce saved my life.” – Amanda, 27

36. “That being honest, and honest as a writer can bring you a lot of trouble. Like alienating friends, pushing people away, giving way to a lot of paranoia. Something you’ve written can turn tables every moment of your life because today’s general perception is so much oriented towards the author’s own life and its translation in art through writing, and not towards the manuscript. I see this all the time.  I’m not gonna say – okay, I can write anything, don’t take me so serious ’cause it’s not real. It’s fucking real, but once reality took its toll, it’s just a good or bad piece of writing. Meant for people to read and connect with it. Made for others to criticize or enjoy.  And people who truly know you should never be affected by what we still call today postmodern fiction.” – Ioana, 30

37. “That I will never see the house where I grew up again, but that it will always survive in my imagination.” – Harley, 23

38. “That I can make my date orgasm, but I can’t have one myself.” – Jerry, 24

39. “That I need medical help.” – Sandra, 21

40. “That every woman dressed as a playboy bunny or a sexy nurse once dreamed of being a Disney princess.” – Aro, 34

41. “That too many people rush to say I love you when it’s only desperation or hormones running wild but not the real thing.” – Carla, 32

42. “When I acknowledged my human limits. I cannot do everything.” – Laura, 30

43. “When I understood I can attract good people, and particularly good guys.” – Selena, 26

44. “When I walked out of my own engagement party with a guy I didn’t love anymore.” – Marnie, 27

45. “When I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. That was rough, but it made me much stronger.” – Cassandra, 30

46. “When I met my second husband, and I knew I’ll never be over my first.” – Jessica, 36

47. “That I was my own unconscious tyrant, and that was how I made myself the victim of others, but that I could outgrow it and be free, which I am glad to enjoy now.” – Adrian, 30

48. “That my anxiety doesn’t make me less intelligent, capable or kind. That I am alright the way I am. That I am doing my best.” – Kelly, 23

49. “That I should’ve started working out earlier.” – Boris, 39

50. “That a love story is a relationship. A relationship is not necessarily though, a love story.” – Tim, 21

51. “If your life is falling apart and you’re deciding to give in you better be willing to pick yourself up again because, unless it’s your mother, you may hardly find people who’d pause their lives to help you. They can advise you maybe but if you don’t seem like responding they’d probably just move on with their lives like they’ve done their part.” – Mariem, 26

52. “Happiness doesn’t depend on being with someone and it doesn’t even depend on being with the one you loved.” – Mara, 27

53. “No one will never love me like my mother did. Unconditionally. I have to satisfy myself with the other ways I’m loved.” – Rebecca, 28

54. “People leave. All you can do is accept that they’re gone.” – Sayan, 22

55. “On some days, I feel secure and light and happy. And it’s important to remind myself of that, on the days when everything is a struggle.” – Tanvi, 23

56. “Of being a beggar for quite long time and it torments me that he never had given me what I was begging for. But life didn’t end there. It made me stronger and finally decided to quit breaking my own heart.” – Bea, 22

57. “People aren’t always who we think they are.” – Elena, 27

58. That relationships aren’t about smiles. They are huge, complicated jigsaws which I didn’t have the right pieces to complete. – Bea, 22

59. “Loving yourself first, comes before loving someone else, no matter how counterintuitive it may feel like.” – Maria, 29

60. “You’d think you’d matter more to people but truth is sometimes you just don’t so you better matter to yourself.” – Andrea, 30 Thought Catalog Logo Mark

Ioana Cristina Casapu is a book author, photographer and producer living life in transit.

Keep up with Ioana on Instagram and ioanacasapu.com

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