I, myself have been married and divorced from a 15 year commitment to a man whom physically, mentally, emotionally abused me. I have 6 children with him, the years I've been with him I've been believing things will get better but I wasn't in healthy marriage. What mattered to me was him being there with us spiritually and financially supportive but eventually this individual has decided to leave us for another women. At the time of my separation, it was VERY tough I personally did not know how to deal with my emotions but I dealt with it on my own. It was like he left me at a dead end street UGH!!!!!!.... All my children were all heart broken and sadden by their father leaving us. We really missed him a lot and wishing he will return, regardless of how he had hurt us millions of times I forgave him because I cared a lot about him and he didn't have a place to go to in the area, his family is originally from up north far away from here. So finally I made up my mind where I had to ask myself if all this separation is worth walking away from or Do I want to continue to live in depression and forgive him??? NO!!!! I MADE myself strong each day and moved on with my children and got help with spiritual prayers with NAC ceremonies and left it in creator's hands and moved on with my life. It was a tough ordeal but I had to do what I had to do by my children...took me 10 years to finally realize that this individual wasn't worth missing anymore regardless that his the father of my children..im very happy and proud of myself that I can say I moved on with my children. YES!! like they say "there's a light at the end of the tunnel"...I love my family if it wasn't for my children, I wouldn't have be where I am now... thank you JESUS!!..AMEN!!

I've always had anxiety and depression since I could remember. That feeling of what if that could happen or thinking of the worst possible is not fun. In my teen years I had pushed myself to join sports and learn to make friends even if it was the toughest thing for me. I still struggle with social anxiety and its because I chose to keep my illness silent. I'm a very private person and I know I have burnouts with an emotional twist to life events. However, this is not me because I overcame suicidal ideation, teasing, and fear of rejection, so many things that I am so content with life now. I am funny when I'm comfortable in my environment and smart for my own good sometimes. I am adventerous, cautious, and clumsy rolled into one. Everyday I learn something new and try to accept it all daily. I like to help others through words I wish I heard more of. Encouragement and support are so different than tough love. I believe I can make a difference now. I know I am resilient through all the hard times, bad relationships and taking long walks alone. But I know I am not alone when it comes to helping others and knowing it helps to have someone there when you need it. It does matter and it shows in today's world that actions speak louder than words. The one thing I learned is it is up to myself to make changes and be the difference.

I have stopped drinking any kind of soda and by body, mind, spirit been healthier than ever. I would like to encourage all my friends/family to stop it as well. There is nothing wrong with not drinking sodas.My body, mind, spirit, been lifter and not feeling to heavy and clustered mind n laziness very powering my spirit. After stopping the intake of soda, my health has been better and more energy to do things and get out and empowering my life and my son.

When I was young, as long as I could remember, my parents had always drank alcohol in front of me. So when I was in my high school years, my cousin and I always took off with older friends who drank to "party" with them. After high school, I moved in with my sister in SLC UT. There was always a party at her house too on weekends. Although i was still underage, I wasn't hesitate to have a drink also. When I turned 21, I had my first son. He was the most beautiful baby in the world to me. I quit the drink for him. I was sober for a about a year after having my 2nd child until we moved to Nevada. I found a job at a big casino. Drinks were easy to get, because it was passed around for free. I thought 1 drink and I'll never do it again. I was wrong. My ex husband was Hispanic and his family always had drinks in the home. So then I start again. Waking up with hangovers was not fun. Eventually I lost my job because I had to always call in to say I wasn't coming to work. A couple years of that before moving back to SLC. Same story there too. Back in 2011, my kids and I moved back to the Rez to live with my parents who were getting up in age. Around 2013 I met a Navajo man and he was the nicest man to me and my family. He is 14 years older then me but age doesn't matter. Hes been sober 25 years. It didn't feel right to me to have a drink while he says no. So I quit 'cold turkey'.. I had his support to get me through it. His encouraging words and actions made it easy. I've been sober now going on 5 years. I don't miss the drink. I feel a lot better and healthier. I see friends who still drinks and they don't look good. I've tried to talk and encourage them to quit but for some reason, their drinking problem has gotten worse. I am just glad I quit. My parents and family were proud of me. To this day, I always remember what my parents told me. They are both gone from this world but memories will always be with me. Thank you

I met Karl for the first time when I babysat his brothers back in junior high, 8th grade to be exact. My father used to be his great-grandfather's home care provider. So, my father already had ties to Karl's family. Back then I was known as, "Delbert's daughter" to Karl. It was until I transferred schools to Kayenta. I didn't recognize Karl until we got on the bus and he sat behind me. I turned around and introduced myself and told him how I knew him. Since then, we sat by each others on every bus ride from home and to school-vice versa. Karl and I shared so much with each others and listened when we needed to. We were each other's go-to in school. If I felt like giving up, he was there to pick me up. If he was having a bad day, I was there to cheer him up. We accomplished a lot throughout our high school years. We held leadership positions in different clubs and strived to be the best we could be. Senior year came. We filled out college applications and scholarships applications together. We car pulled to the computer labs on weekends because that is where students went to work on rigorous applications for scholarships or colleges. I remember, during our winter break we car pulled in our Pastor's pick-up that had no heater and it was snowing. We were bundled up like burritos! It was hilarious because it showed our dedication towards our education. Sure enough, we pulled it off because on April 17th, 2013 we received calls from our families telling us were were Gates Millennium Scholars! It was so unreal because that day we were in New York City with one of the clubs we were involved in. A dream city? My best friend? And a scholarship that pays our way for college? That was one of the best days of our relationship. I'm telling you this because not only did we love each others, but we respected ourselves and one another. We wanted the best for each other. Still to this day. We're in school, have a job, and internships. Karl and I are still each other's foundation; while building ours together. We've been together going on eight years and those eight years have been the best. We're living, loving, learning, and growing. I wouldn't want it any other way. Through it all, it's the little things that matter. Karl making me breakfast on his days off. Giving Karl back/foot rubs. Telling each others, "i love you" anytime of the day because we do, we love. Praying for each others and visiting each others' families. We're young and still have so much to explore and I'm excited for that. One of the best gifts that Karl has given me is sharing the same vision for ourselves; Degrees, our dream jobs, a home on the Navajo Nation (Cow Springs and Shonto, AZ to be exact) livestock, and one day...children. As my grandmas say, "take care of each others, be good to each others, and pray for each others". We do. I'm blessed to have someone like Karl. He's Shi Heart, always.

I was born on the Navajo reservation into a loving caring family. I grew up being loved by my elders and parents. I was a middle child, my parents had ten children. I don’t remember ever being abused emotionally, or physically by anybody as a child. I remember going to boarding school, falling in love with a guy in high school, I thought my whole world revolved around this person. I ran away with him and his parents asked for my hand in marriage. Our parents arranged a Navajo wedding for us and we were married in the summer time. Everything was going well for us until we got married. My husband begin to think of me as something that belonged to him. I was to do what he said and he became jealous and possessive. He was no longer the guy that I fell in love with. I remember him hitting me and having him tell me it wasn’t going to happen again. But I got abused physically, emotionally and sexually for not doing something or saying something. I got pregnant with my first child during my Junior year so I didn’t finish high school. I started having children and living through the abuse. I feared my husband so much through the years. It seemed like I was always walking on eggshells. I lied to my family about the bruises I had saying I fell or I bumped into something. I told myself that my kids needed their dad and lived with the abuse for years. When my youngest child was born, I had enough of living in fear. I was so scared but I told my husband to leave. He left me with four young children, no high school diploma, no job, no vehicle and living on Welfare to survive. Through Welfare, I was able to obtain a GED and go to college and I eventually received my AA, my BA and my Master’s degree and became a teacher. I also took a lot of classes on self-esteem and other motivational classes because abuse in any form takes everything that you are away from you. But to this day I believe that although there are a lot of obstacles to overcome you can be anything you want to be. And always remember the Golden Rule: Treat people the way you want to be treated!

We are looking for inspirational stories to share on this website. Have you gone through a bad time, depression, bad home life, a bad relationships, homelessness, weight loss/weight gain, alcoholism, domestic violence, substance use or other situation? How did you get through it? What helped you and what did you learn from it? What would tell someone who is going through a similar situation? What would you tell your younger self. What would you like the younger generation to know? What would you tell a senior in high school about life? We want stories that will inspire others. We will not include your name or anything identifying, but we will accept an image if you would like to display one. If you submit a story you will be entered to win a t-shirt or a tote. What's Your Story?

I took my oldest daughter out to lunch today. I asked her what the best part of her day was and she said she stood up to a bully. I guess the little boy was teasing her and her friends and she stood up to him and said, "You do not want to mess with me because I'm Navajo, being Navajo is my super power and you do not want to mess with me because I am strong!" I just love her and her strength and courage. 💪