What's something you've accomplished that required a considerable amount of effort?

I convinced doctors and a sperm bank to deal with me even though I am single. It took a couple of years, but I finally made them understand that what I was doing was not unethical or immoral. Then I was able to have KatawaGrey.

I recently bought the company I have worked for since 1996 in the middle of the worst depression/recession this country has ever seen. It was an 8 year process that took that long to put all the pieces to the puzzle to make it a successful transition. Securing financing, lawyers and insurance agents made the process as difficult as they possibly could and then some.

What made it even more crazy is I moved into a new home 2 days prior! HS that was an insane time!

I went back to university at the age of 24 after having not been to school in 5 years. It took a couple of extra years because of a program switch, but 7 years later I have a BA and MA, and I start my PhD in a couple of months.

Why was it so hard? I was terrified of being the “old lady” in my classes, and making new friends doesn’t really come easily to me. A year ago I moved 400km from home to start at a new university, and I don’t adapt to change very well, either.

Living, lol. I haven’t really done much that I feel was that painstaking, which I feel is kind of embarrassing, but I’m also just really starting my life in the sense that I’m starting the journey to college and finding life work.

Oooh! I bet Sea’s gonna tell us about Nimmy! Yay!

Degrees and pregnancies + labor.

I have a few things.

I had my first son and ended up being a single mother for about 5 years or so.

I got myself through nursing school while being a single mother. That was hard because I was working full time, going to school full time, and parenting on my own (I had sole custody since my ex didn’t want anything to do with my older son and my ex didn’t pay child support). I didn’t have much of a social life during that time (which led to the next complicated accomplishment, my second son (Nimmy as @JilltheTooth calls him)).

I convinced my old OBGYN to give me a tubal ligation as a 26-year-old single mother with one child. Three weeks after the ligation I started dating my husband. Fast forward about 2 and a half years and I convinced an OBGYN to do a tubal reversal with me being in the hospital for the surgery alone. My husband was deployed at the time and all of my family was on the opposite coast. I had the tubal reversal, waited a few months for my husband to get home, and then got pregnant. The pregnancy wasn’t too bad, but the end got complicated and he spend a few days in the NICU. Having him in the NICU and not by my side after having him was one of the most difficult things I’ve been through emotionally in my life.

Ohh, and I just wrote that whole post with one hand as Nimmy is in my other arm sleeping. :)

Being the husband/father of a traditional family unit.

It is difficult on very many levels, but infinitely rewarding as well.

During my junior year of high school I was extremely ill from mid-March through the end of the school year in late June and was able to attend very little school during this time. I still managed to get prepared for my two AP exams in early May and received good grades on both. I also had some mandatory state examinations at the end of June, and I would have had to go to summer school if I hadn’t completed them successfully. I managed to avoid summer school by taking one my tests while I was in the ICU. In the end I graduated valedictorian despite the battle my health proved to be. I’m not so proud of these things, really, because they show just how much of a workaholic I was.

I have overcome anorexia, depression, and suicidal tendencies. That took years and was emotionally exhausting, but it was so very worth it.

I graduated summa cum laude with a degree in math. Most people in my classes were jealous that I always did so well, but it didn’t come naturally. I spent nearly all of my time focused on studying. I think the increased understanding that I got in exchange for the massive effort was a fair trade, but I didn’t have any social life.

I spent four years in a long distance relationship. It was really hard because we only saw each other twice a year, but we were determined to make it work. We focused on the positives and maintained a healthy relationship over all four years. We finally got married nearly two months ago and I couldn’t be happier.

1. After years of denial and all sorts of other emotions and lies to myself and others, I got sober. I did it through a 12 step program. The getting sober wasn’t necessarily the hardest part. It’s been staying sober on a daily basis for 12 years that’s had it’s ups and downs.

2. After a lifetime of—again—denial and all sorts of experiences good and horrible, I came out of the closet. The initial recognition of my sexuality was only the beginning of a journey of discovery of loving myself and others in my life and letting some people go. Just as with sobriety, it’s been the daily living that’s been the trickiest.

I can report today I am happy, whole, out, and glad for it all—the good times and the bad.

I’m still on the “effort” part. I’ll get back with you as soon as the “accomplishment” part shows up.

@Seelix That’s so amazing! I’m almost 24 and facing some of the same worries now, and right now a degree seems so far away. So it’s inspiring to hear that you did that.