Is there anything that you have ever been through in your life where afterwards you realized that you're a stronger person than you thought previously?

Suicide of my first husband then later the suicide of my baby brother, who had found my first husband. The only way I survived was my kids and the Grace of God.

Almost every event makes us stronger.

I went to India for hospice work.

I really had no idea what I was getting into. I got there in the slums of Calcutta and getting out of the taxi, the smells were so horrid, I almost threw up.

Over a couple weeks, I saw many people in terrible pain. I never really knew such pain existed, I remember the nun’s look at me when I said “What, what do you mean you don’t have Advil?!”

In the end, hey, I made it through. I worked hard everyday, walked in brutal heat, and never got sick. I honestly never thought I would do so well there…I really rose to the occasion and helped a lot of people. I didn’t think I had it in me…

Being mistreated by people I’ve been in relationships with.
Being betrayed and then tormented by close friends.
Being tormented for voicing my opinion in high school.
Growing up with very little stability, financially and family wise.
Being abused by my brother while growing up.
Being neglected by my mother while growing up.

Every experience we go through effects us, whether we realize it while going through it or in hindsight. All of the above have definitely given me strength..in different areas of my personality and though there still is pain and hurt.. I’m still alive and with a tough heart because of them.

Moving to another country by myself right after graduation from college with no job, nowhere to live, no one I knew there, and never having been there before.

It didn’t so much show me I was stronger, because I didn’t think it was that big a deal…it wasn’t until I was there and I started making things work for me that I realized how hard what I was doing could be for some people and how daring it really was.

@hitomi you make me feel incredibly old. Kudos… you lucky jerk.

Abuse for YEARS from my mother. Realizing I would never have that “mother-daughter relationship” that most, if not all of my friends had with their moms.

My ex boyfriend of three years cheating on me, getting knocked up by him, then having an abortion.

Not ever knowing my father, and realizing that maybe I should stop trying to reach out to him, and let him reach out to me.

After all that, I don’t do drugs, I’m not a prostitute and I have morals.

We all have those experiences that shape us. I have already read the responses above, written by courageous survivors. My story pales in comparison.

Gun in my face.
It didn’t change how strong I was, it just reaffirmed what I already thought of myself.

@Sorceren Thank you and remember – you’re NEVER old until YOU decide you are!

I think most people surprise themselves by how strong they truly are. For me, it was caring for my terminally ill husband and watching him die.

It doesn’t have to be something big to surprise yourself – it could just as easily be something small. Every experience is still valid.

getting kicked out of a private high school my junior year for smoking weed in the bathroom. Stupid mistake and at the time i was in a really bad place and i was heading in a bad direction at the time.

Afterwords I met with the superintendent of the county and was allowed access to the public high school, quit smoking weed for a year, got my life back on track got into college and actually just graduated from a university with a dual degree in psychology and philosophy and am working toward grad school.

That day really turned my life around and while at the time was a pretty horrible situation, it turned out being such a great experience and helped me tune my life significantly.

When one door closes another one opens….or at least you can find a window to climb out of :)

I thought that I “needed” this guy just because we were in a relationship for over two years and we spent all our time together. When he broke up with me, I realized I didn’t need him, and I never had. I realized I didn’t need to rely on anyone else for the strength that I had had all along and just never known it. I gained so much self-confidence that day that I never knew I had been lacking. The day we broke up is still a beautiful and positive memory for me, because it was so eye-opening and powerful.

Got stranded in Germany when I was 20 and didn’t know any German. Dealt with it.