Index

Age: 52, Location: Milwaukee, WI

When were you at your weakest:
During my marriage, when my husband worked and I didn't, and I had a newborn to care for.

When were you at your strongest:
During my single years, working.

How are you feeling now:
Still not strong. Until I secure employment outside of the home, I will not feel strong. I feel as dependent as my child. It would help if my husband was appreciative and respectful of the work I do at home to raise our child and run our household.

Age: 27, Location: South Africa

When were you at your weakest:
After experiencing rejection and failure

When were you at your strongest:
When I found out who I was and my true passion , and realized that it is ok to be me myself and not be apologetic for my existence .

How are you feeling now:
Im feeling hopeful and confident

Age: 62, Location: Edmonton Alberta Canada

When were you at your weakest:
When I was a young mother - I had no clue about much of anything and was easily influenced to take actions I knew were questionable - such as discontinuing breastfeeding because I supposedly didn't have enough milk.

When were you at your strongest:
Years 1998 through 2003 when I took care of my self - worked out daily and ate healthy

How are you feeling now:
not so great. Rheumatoid arthritis has leveled all previous accomplishments. Being back on disability assistance has created hardship - and does not allow me to care for my self properly.

Age: 35, Location: TEXAS, USA

When were you at your weakest:
At the age of 30... I was on the brink of death physically, mentally & spiritually.No one thought I was going to survive past 30... Years of untreated & misdiagnosed trauma I experienced being raped when I was 16 had taken its toll on my life.I know I wouldn't have survived if it weren't for my soul-mate therapist & EMDR

When were you at your strongest:
Now! Every day I grow stronger!

How are you feeling now:
Fully alive & better than ever!!!

Age: 49, Location: United States of America

When were you at your weakest:
I was at my weakest as a young child. I had a lot of strikes against me. I was from a large impoverished family. I was born with a crooked eye and a severe speech impediment that made me hard to understand except for those closest to me. My father had a massive heart attack when I was about three, and could not work. He drank and was very abusive both mentally and physically. There were no resources to have my eye corrected or to help me with my speech before beginning school. It was several years before any of the adults in my life made my welfare in this regard important enough to do anything about. When I began school I was teased and had few friends from 'the normal' crowd. My first grade teacher was a woman with a horrible temper who would line all the children up and give us a whack with the paddle whenever she was in a bad mood. So, at my weakest, I was a young child who felt abandoned instead of accepted into this new world of 'other people' outside my household. I didn't realize abuse wasn't 'normal' because I experienced it both at home and at school. I thank God my mother was the sweetest woman who ever lived.

When were you at your strongest:
I have learned to be very strong in many ways. My life is a rich tapestry of those times in which I can have pride in my strength in many different situations. The time when I was the most strong, would have to be when I helped my mother in her last year of life. She wasn't just my mother, she was also my best friend in all ways. Not a day goes by in which I have ever stopped mourning and missing her. While everyone in this very large family was falling apart around me, I had to keep it all together. It was like a nightmare that I couldn't wake up from. Not only did I have to see to all the different details and care for my mother, I also had to control this group of people who would have upset her with their drama when she needed only peace and a chance to think about her life and prepare to meet God. I too wanted moments to just fall apart and cry, but didn't have that luxury then or for weeks after she was no longer here. I did my absolute best for my mom when she needed me most. I am forever marked by this experience, but would gladly go through it all again for just another moment in time with her.

How are you feeling now:
Now, I am on a roller coaster of creativity. I have always been artistic in all areas of the arts even though my life path led me to be employed in other ways. I don't regret this, because each thing I have learned has all added to who I am today. Now, all my talents, skills, life experience, personal interests, and emotions are climaxing at one time and coming out creatively in prose, stories, art, video, and a combination of all. I am looking for the dream I want to make happen before my life is done and don't know what it is. I feel it is now or never. I am in somewhat of a panic about it on the inside, but maintain my composure on the outside, like always. I summed up my life and realized that along the way I was given a path that leads to something more than what I have known so far. I get positive feedback from many and believe I have a purpose for it all, I just don't know what it is exactly or how a person does it? As I am trying to find my niche, I am also helping other people find their dreams as well in so many ways. It fills me up inside to help other people and see their happiness in personal accomplishment. I suppose I need a mentor who would be willing to look over all my art and tell me what I am meant to be doing and how to find that road I'm supposed to be on.

Age: 59, Location: United States

When were you at your weakest:
This past summer when my roommate (ex-husband) abandoned my 15 year old granddaughter and I. I was in the middle of training to work at home, with no income, no benefits, NOTHING. Nowhere to go. I could not get unemployment benefits, no state assistance. This took me down and at my lowest level of my life.

When were you at your strongest:
Several years after my husband divorced me. I became strong and 100% independent, raising my granddaughter. Was very content and happy.

How are you feeling now:
Struggling to survive, with no income, feeling worthless and scared to death that I will not find a job. I have been actively submitting my resume and applications for open positions, with a competition of the least 200 other applicants for the same position, with not one job interview. So I am extremely at my lowest in my lifetime.

Age: 25, Location: Vancouver

When were you at your weakest:
When I found myself unable to cope with grief. Suicidal thoughts and depression over this almost did me in.

When were you at your strongest:
When I was a child. I grew up in a war, so many horrific things were going on around me but I was strong and I didn't let anything get to me.

How are you feeling now:
At peace. :)

Age: 37, Location: Calgary Canada

When were you at your weakest:
The weakest time in my life was growing up around age 11 through 17. I was the fat girl in school, I had horrible acne so was frequently teased and felt isolated much of the time. I never had many friends, and at times, had none. Certainly none of the boys even glanced at me so having a boyfriend wasn't even something I ever considered a possibility. My self esteem took a beating and I'm still very affected by this today as an adult. My family wasn't the kind to speak openly about feelings, and I can't remember any expressions of love from my parents either physical or verbal, so it was an extremely lonely and painful time. I wanted to end my life many times just to put a stop to the endless hurt I was feeling.

When were you at your strongest:
I can't say I've ever truly felt like a strong person, but when I try to look at my life from the outside, I think moving to a new city where I knew nobody, starting my career and now running my own business, takes a pretty strong individual. It's not exactly any one event where I've felt strong, but being able to carry on in life without a family support system, I think I've done o.k.

How are you feeling now:
Today, I feel like things are mixed. In some areas, I think I've been successful – in others, I see myself as a miserable failure. As my career has gone along quite well, I find in relationships I'm much more of a disaster. I do have a handful of close friends, and for them, I feel truly thankful. But I still find myself pushing people away for fear I'm going to be hurt. I have little to no contact with my family anymore, though I would like to. But we are so detached from one another, I don't see how that can happen. I have moments I feel confident and happy, and others I still feel like that insecure little girl that nobody really cares for.

Age: 32, Location: Knoxville, tn

When were you at your weakest:
The day I realized I may never see my dad again. I was about 11 years old. My mother kept me away from my dad for 10 years. It was only because of my brother that I was reunited with him at 17. I last saw him when I was 7 and my mother told me for years that he hated me. My dad and I are very close now, he is everything to me.

When were you at your strongest:
Growing up my mother would beat on us kids. She had a very bad temper. I first found Michael's music when I was 13 and whenever she would hit me I would close my eyes and see Michael there singing to me. He kept me strong and alive. I will love him forever for this.

How are you feeling now:
Well it's christmas eve and we just had presents together because we have to travel tonight. I got Michael's new cd and I can't stop listening to it. I love it, I love him, and I am very happy right now.