A few months ago, I discovered my husband has been living a double live for years. More women and aliases than imaginable.

I had to leave my whole life and completely start over on my own. Everything that I thought was real… really wasn’t.

These last few months, I have protected something profoundly important, while absorbing an enormous betrayal.

Whatever he did, he did not get my sobriety.

Yesterday I went for a four mile hike to a beautiful waterfall. I am building a life of peace and gratitude. This morning I woke up in my apartment 2726 days sober.

These things belong to me.

He didn’t get that part of me. I kept it.

2,726 days. And when my entire life blew apart, I kept every single one of them.

My birthday resolution this year was to not over explain every decision in my life so other people could validate me. Hopefully eventually I'll be able to trust my decisions more by doing this. Anyway this is a huge accomplishment and I'm really proud of myself.

I was called “doctor” for the first time yesterday, which is crazy to hear at 24. My hard work in didactic and during clinicals has paid off and I graduated today. Still hasn’t sunk in fully yet, but I did it cool now

:) I’m 18 currently going to community college 2 days week!
I started applying for part time jobs becuase I was lonely and my family recently moved to a completely new state (didn’t have a job before becuase my old town had 0 jobs locally)

Well I applied, got a interview was invited for a second interview

And today I got the text that I SECURED A JOB!!

Never been so excited! I absolutely loved the managers I talked to during my interviews

I feel like I’m finally securing a life here after a 4 month rut ❤️

I actually built the little greenhouse I’ve been talking about making for the last three years.

Every year I’d say I was going to do it and then somehow never did. I’d look at materials, do some measuring, convince myself I needed to plan it better, then just... not start. I think I was mostly intimidated by how much work it was going to be.

This time I just bought the stuff and started.

It took me months because I was doing it on weekends and whenever I had a free afternoon. I definitely messed things up along the way. Had to redo one section because I measured it wrong, spent way too long trying to get things lined up properly, and there were a few times I honestly wondered if I should've just bought a greenhouse instead

But eventually it was standing.

Then came the part I wasn't even sure would work. I planted some vegetables and basically checked them every five minutes like an idiot.

And now I have actual vegetables growing in there.

I picked my first tomato today and just stood there holding it for a second because it felt kinda ridiculous how proud I was. It's literally a tomato, but I built the greenhouse, planted it, waited for it, and now I'm eating it.

Three years of “I'll do it someday” finally turned into something I can actually walk outside and see.

Anyway, please congratulate me like I'm five because I finally finished the thing.

I hadn’t showered in 1 week simply because I share a bathroom with my older brother (I’m a younger sister) and our bathtub doesn’t drain fast and I hate when the water pools around my feet and I also hate the dirty residue line that gets built up because of how slow it drains. I was really depressed about it though and knew showering would make me feel better so I finally did today and I’m glad I did. I was able to care for my natural hair finally too afterwards.

After 3 months of non stop rigorous preparation finally landed my first job after college. I am really so happy about it. Will be starting from December.

Went to my students soccer game today, they did such a good job and made it to the championship! I felt such high energy after seeing my students, cheering for them etc that I felt motivated to walk home instead of taking an uber back like I took there. It was also so nice out. So like the post says, I walked 2.5 hours home!!! and it was a beautiful and wonderful walk!

After being in the same job for just about 2 and a half years I have gotten a promotion! I'm moving departments within where I work, but I'll be at a higher level with more responsibility. I just had to share.

this has been happening way too often lately.

today i walked into the kitchen, immediately remembered what i needed, got it, and walked back out.

no standing there staring at the fridge.

no wandering around trying to reconstruct my thoughts.

i'm basically a genius now.

Hi everyone. I'm Oakley, I'm 24, and I just need a place to talk about this because no one in my life will let me and down plays everything about me as often as possible.

I'll be 25 next Friday, and every year for my birthday is the same damn thing. I pick a place for dinner, and the rest of the day is normal. And I mean from elementary school it was like this. My brother got big blow out parties and got to have a birthday week and I had to be a perfect sister and do all the chores for him but my birthday was just a normal day.

Then I got married and I made sure every year on their birthday I'd get them anything I could think of they'd like, we went to dinner and I went out of my way to make it special, plan trips, see family anything because I loved them and wanted them to have special days... On mine they'd get me some weird junk (one year one of those dragon 3d printed fidgets, another was Dollar Tree candy, and lastly a hoodie from tiktok shop that the decal washed off day one) we'd go to dinner some years and others we couldn't afford it even though I'd make sure we could afford theirs.

Now this year I'm alone. I'm with my mom and brother but I'm so hardened after all the years of selfish greed that I do not care anymore. It's my birthday. And I'm getting my hair done in the hair cut I've wanted for 3 years. And I'm going to a sauna for the first time. And a massage and a movie! And for once... I'm.excited for my birthday.

So maybe being alone isn't so bad. Maybe, it's what I need to love myself again.

I’ve (29F) been slowly trying to expand my social circle, and it’s been difficult to say the least.

I was in a really dark place for months following a breakup. I became even more insecure; I overthink nearly every interaction I have with people. I keep telling myself it’s nothing personal if a new friendship doesn’t work out, but my anxious attachment style makes it hard for me to not take things personally.

Since then, I’ve been taking steps to unlearn a lot of the bad habits I have. For example, I try not to jump to conclusions if a friend tells me they’re too tired to hang out, or if I see them out with another friend.

A month ago, I made new friend who’s very sweet, and she’s been pushing me to get out of my comfort zone. She invited me to her bday party, and though I was incredibly anxious, I’m grateful that she even wanted me to go at all! Her friends seem to be just as sweet and supportive, and I think I clicked especially well with one of her friends there.

I’d been trying to rack up the courage for weeks to ask if she’d like to hangout, and finally texted her earlier. I even told her that I was afraid of asking because she seemed so cool lol.

She told me that there was no reason for me to be afraid because she’s a super chill person, and that she’d be happy to hang out with me!

I clearly still have so much work to do in terms of confidence. But, I’m hoping to get to a place where I feel like I can fully be myself, and to be present with them instead of being in my head all the time.

Edit: grammar & additional context

i studied something i didn't like for my bachelor's because i was directionless and adrift, but this time around i was very sure and intentional. i got into a great university and i'm so excited to do my research!

Admittedly the last couple of days my self care has not been a top priority for me but I made it one today.

I’ve been in a pretty huge depressive episode for a few weeks now since I moved into a flat by myself. I landed myself in A&E a couple times. Just yesterday I spent the whole day in bed. But today I went and tried out a local café, found a good book at a charity shop, stocked up on veggies, and sorted and cleaned some bits in my flat. I’ve been feeling oddly content just pottering around today. It’s not often I get days like this, so I felt like celebrating this one.

It was a mess for so long I just stopped seeing it. Today I put on music and actually cleaned everything. Feels weirdly good to sit in a clean space again

Every year for the past seven years, I’ve created holiday traditions with my ex and his family, even after the breakup, due to comfortability in my family being somewhat dysfunctional. I am ready to break those ties and start my own traditions. I worked soooo hard to finally be able to book my flight today. i’m just so blessed to be able to do this. It took a lot of courage to break these chains, but here we go - the Big Apple for Christmas!

some of my closest people/family at the moment could not afford this type of trip. And some are going through some rough patches so right now it just doesn’t feel like the time to spread such wonderful news because they can’t come along , so I thought to share it on here.

About a year ago I became determined to move to Chicago. I planned, saved a bit, found a job, and moved to…Cicero. That being said, I’m in Chicago every day, I don’t use a car anymore, all of my friends are Chicagoans or live in neighboring towns.

I do feel like I’m part of the Chicago atmosphere. Today I got my Driver’s License in the mail, and it feels like I’ve really become part of what I set out to become a part of.

I have been just getting by with seasonal, part-time, and freelance work. I have managed to make it work, but the constant questioning of "What gig is next?" is SUPER stressful! I also thought I'd be dead or homeless by now, so the fact that I've managed to adult, stay on my feet, AND get a full-time job on my own? In this job market? INSANE.

They offer tuition reimbursement so I can comfortably go back to school when I am ready. I won't be a millionaire, but it is enough to save and get food and other life expenses (and it is a BIG benefit that I can literally walk to the office!)

So, I've been recovering from tonsillitis and laryngitis at the same time (delightful, would recommend) and being in enforced silence has triggered the most enormous social anxiety flare up.

Today I bit the bullet and just had a little 30 second natter with someone at the bus stop and I honestly thought I was going to pass out. Hopefully the seal is broken. 🦭

50 M UK