47 Former Players Reveal Exactly How One Special Girl Changed Them For Good

By Thought Catalog,
God & Man

11. “Six months ago, I met this girl who changed me forever by literally smashing my phone to bits. A week after we hooked up kinda randomly, we ran into each other at a bar. I’d ghosted her, of course, like I always did, figuring I could charm my way back in if I needed to. She walked right up to me that night and grabbed my phone right out of my pocket. Then she threw it on the ground and stomped on it and walked away. Sounds crazy, but it was the wake-up call I needed. Next day, I showed up at her apartment to apologize and she was nice enough to forgive me—after making me promise I’d never treat another woman that way again. To this day, I haven’t.”

— Derek, 30

beetlejuice

Trace the scars life has left you. It will remind you that at one point, you fought for something. You believed.

Trace the scars life has left you. It will remind you that at one point, you fought for something. You believed.

“You are the only person who gets to decide if you are happy or not—do not put your happiness into the hands of other people. Do not make it contingent on their acceptance of you or their feelings for you. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if someone dislikes you or if someone doesn’t want to be with you. All that matters is that you are happy with the person you are becoming. All that matters is that you like yourself, that you are proud of what you are putting out into the world. You are in charge of your joy, of your worth. You get to be your own validation. Please don’t ever forget that.” — Bianca Sparacino

Excerpted from The Strength In Our Scars by Bianca Sparacino.

Trace the scars life has left you. It will remind you that at one point, you fought for something. You believed.

Trace the scars life has left you. It will remind you that at one point, you fought for something. You believed.

“You are the only person who gets to decide if you are happy or not—do not put your happiness into the hands of other people. Do not make it contingent on their acceptance of you or their feelings for you. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if someone dislikes you or if someone doesn’t want to be with you. All that matters is that you are happy with the person you are becoming. All that matters is that you like yourself, that you are proud of what you are putting out into the world. You are in charge of your joy, of your worth. You get to be your own validation. Please don’t ever forget that.” — Bianca Sparacino

Excerpted from The Strength In Our Scars by Bianca Sparacino.

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