Index

Age: 17, Location: New Zealand

When were you at your weakest:
I guess I was my weakest when I was being sexually abused when I was a child. He told me to not tell anyone, I didn't. I was a kid, didn't know it was wrong and there was nobody who could help me. This went on for around 4years.

When were you at your strongest:
When I met a really amazing friend who has supported me through all the tough times I have had. I really feel that when I finally let what happened to me out I was strong. I had courage to open up and im happy and proud of myself for doing that.

How are you feeling now:
These past couple of days I have been feeling good and bad. I have come to realise that some times it is really hard but then there are moments where you feel on top of the world. I have more self confidence and feel good right at the moment.

Age: 17, Location: Norway

When were you at your weakest:
Right after my dad started abusing me at age 4 or 5 years old.

When were you at your strongest:
When I testefied against my dad in court. I was believed, my story was heard. and I was no silent anymore, not a victim but a survivor!

How are you feeling now:
Im feeling better, im healing but the road is long, but not empty anymore. I have a future, something I did not tought just weeks ago.

Age: 67, Location: North Lauderdale, Florida

When were you at your weakest:
When I was in a relationship with a man who mentally abused me.

When were you at your strongest:
When I was 23 and knew that my mother would need to be looked after for the rest of her life and that I chose it to be my job to do that. She took care of me now it was my turn to repay that love.

How are you feeling now:
I am a widow and the last 6 years have been hard and with losing Michael Jackson and three very close friends it has been tough but I am doing okay now and look forward to my future with my family and grandchildren

Age: 15, Location: texas

When were you at your weakest:
the time of my dads death

When were you at your strongest:
when i found my love that has helped me with everything

How are you feeling now:
i still struggle with everyday life but with each breath i take i get stronger

Age: 54, Location: Midwest USA

When were you at your weakest:
Honestly, speaking from a time I can't remember was the story told to me by my adopted mother, my true mother, who raised me and taught me everything I know about being a strong woman. I was at my weakest when I was 11 months old fighting for my life, holding on by a thread yet blessed by God to continue living as the story was told to me. I had been rescued from the mother who couldn't take care of me and would have let me die from starvation and neglect had God not sent 2 angels to take me to my Godsend mother who would later adopt me at the age of 8-yrs-old. My bio-mother was unfortunately unable to care for me because she suffered from a mental disorder that disallowed her to understand the damage I was being put through. My head was covered in sores from an allergic reaction to non-fat-dry-milk that I was fed (to this day I stay away from this product) and my body was nothing but head and stomach and the rest of my body was skin and bones at the time when my Godsend mother first laid eyes upon me. She asked that my bio-mother come to see her to talk about letting her keep me to bring me back to health, otherwise I would soon die. My bio-mother agreed to let me live with my new mother and she saved my life with the help of God's guidance and the strength he gave her to process what had to be done to get me healthy and thriving. I didn't know how to eat and I was taken to the doctor ""every day"" for months, even sometimes having doctor home visits to check on my condition. The story is very in-depth as I remember it because it was told to me many times in efforts for me not to ever forget how God blessed me. My new mother would always look at me and say that I was a ""blessed child."" She would say this because I thrived so well that I never had any defects from my malnutrition. I grew up with 20-20 vision; my hearing is perfect; I had all my faculties and learning abilities (graduating Valedictorian of 8th grade elementary school); and I never had anything other than regular childhood ailments like any other child. This has to be the only answer for this question in regards to my being at my weakest.

When were you at your strongest:
I've been at my strongest over my entire life because I've always been able to sufficiently and cerebrally figure out how to battle any significant failure or setback in my life. I was 17-yrs-old when my adopted mother passed away in 1974. I had to be strong to deal with what was going to be me against the world. I've been able to deal with disappointments, illnesses, surgeries, and my divorce with a 2-yr-old son to care for through my lessons learned and taught to me from my mother's teachings. Her words have always found my mind whenever I needed to reach for an ability to strive and get past a negative point in my life. My belief in the spiritual and the Almighty helped me to hear her words, even if I didn't remember that she had said them to me during my life with her. I'm at my strongest when I listen and know that I can comprehend whatever is being said because I believed my mother, when she said that I was a ""blessed child"".

How are you feeling now:
Right now, I am feeling a bit uninspired. I'm healthy for the most part and hope and pray that my health continues to stay with me. I'm alone. I only have my son, who's not very much company because he doesn't want to talk or can't be more talkative because he suffers from Aspergers Syndrome. I struggle with his negativity and hatefulness. I wish that I could change our situation (financially, emotionally and socially) to make my life better so that I can make his life better. As you can see I can't speak of myself without speaking of my son, because I'm his mother and legal guardian (since 18y.o., now 20y.o.) and even though he's my adopted son, I am his mother and the way he feels greatly alters how I feel. I miss Michael Jackson, because he was like my love and my muse. I still think of him as my muse but I can't seem to get through with my thoughts. I allow distractions to deter from getting things done. I have to fight this and find my strength as it lies underneath the surface and usually I can tap into it whenever I need it. I just sort of lost my will to persevere when Michael left us. Though, I say this, I know in my heart that the same way my mother reaches me when I need her, is the same as when I need Michael. I strongly feel that I'm able to sense him. Being somewhat psychic, I've always felt that I can feel better and achieve greater, but I just need to want it and sometimes wanting it is not enough.

Age: 43, Location: Australia

When were you at your weakest:
I was at my weakest after 4 years of emotional, psychological, financial & sexual abuse at the hand of an employer. The slow creep into his hell caused me to lose myself and nearly lose my life & soul from the experience. I suffered complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and severe depression which is ongoing for the 6 years since I came out to the Company Board of Directors with what was going on. They let me go as an employee, also terminating the abuser who was CEO and then led me through 2 years of legal hell fighting my case...secondary trauma!

When were you at your strongest:
I was at my strongest just a minute ago as I have learned to manage the worst symptoms of my Post Traumatic Stress Disorder by continual awareness of the moment, that I have survived, I am safe now and I am strong.

How are you feeling now:
Each day is different but with the love & support of family, friends and a great therapist coupled with my determination to minimise his impact on the rest of my life I fight each day for the right to life a full and rich life. I am winning.

Age: 30, Location: Mumbai, India

When were you at your weakest:
When I was emotionally bereft, with no one to lean on. I was devastated.

When were you at your strongest:
When I found joy in simple things, like dance.

How are you feeling now:
At peace, rebuilding, rediscovering, just being. :)

Age: 24, Location: Pretoria

When were you at your weakest:
I was abused by a family member on a regular basis for the first 11 years of my life. This caused a lot of weak moments. I suffered from Bulimia and my body was weakened to the point where I couldn't function any more. The worst was when I was standing in a field. I had my father's pistol and was about to shoot myself. This was 30 September 2000

When were you at your strongest:
The day I told the truth about what he did to me. It was the day when I realised that I didn't have to keep the promises that I made to him about keeping the secret. That day I realised that he didn't have the right to do what he did to my body and soul. It was 30 September 2001 and I celebrate that day every year as my ""real"" birthday.

How are you feeling now:
I struggle with depression, but enjoy my life. I know that my childhood will always be there, but I have accepted that. I know now that I have worth and that I can do some small things to contribute to the world around me. I'm in a wonderful 5yr old relationship with the greatest man who was also abused and we have learned to love each other in the way that we never got the chance to learn from our parents.I'm happy, but sometimes at the strangest times the fear takes over. In these times I listen to Alanis Morisette's ""Hands clean"" and remember that it's his hands that are stained, not mine.

Age: 47, Location: France

When were you at your weakest:
When my ex-husband left me with two small children, 2 and 4 years old, with no work ( I had quit my job in order to raise my children, it was a joint decision), without money (he's gone with all my savings), and in a new place (we had just moved and I didn't know anyone to help me). He tried everything to destroy me...to the point of trying to take my children.

When were you at your strongest:
I was lost, psychologically destroyed, without hope and without immediate future, so I returned to live at my parent's with my children. I rebuilt myself day after day, slowly, in the love of my children, I devoted all my time to them during those dark years, I lived through them and I plunged in their childhood to forget all this painful situation and to regain strenght.

How are you feeling now:
I overcame these ordeals and now I feel free, strong, independent, alive, like never before ready for a new life full of projects.