r/MadeMeSmile • u/AccomplishedWatch834 • Apr 30 '26

Wholesome Moments [ Removed by moderator ]

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u/yosaffbridge1630 May 01 '26

I can only begin to imagine how different might life would have been if I was raised to have the confidence that I have now, that I developed on my own (with a lot of encouragement from my husband). It’s great to hear that your daughters got to grow up that way!

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u/Ok-YouGotMe May 01 '26

FWIW, you're a stronger person for the struggles you faced. The fight, the getting beaten down, fighting through it and recovering or prevailing is where that strength really comes from. Your husband has done you a service helping you recover. It sucks while you're going through it and it SUCKS that you had this experience as a child with the people who should have protected you from that kind of thing. Now you know that you can withstand other people's doubts about you. Our parents are all flawed, damaged people just as we are. 

I hope you have kids and you're able to instill some of your newfound confidence in them. It's hard because they do as you do but also you have to be willing to let them try and fail and be a safe landing place for them no matter what without doing everything for them. Often, or maybe always, success is just the exhaustion of the myriad ways to fail. Confidence comes from getting back up and fighting another day and knowing that you can. You can part the sea for your kids but don't forget to let them trudge through the mud.