47 Former Players Reveal Exactly How One Special Girl Changed Them For Good

By Thought Catalog,

30. “For a while, I cheated on my college girlfriend like crazy. The only reason I even had a girlfriend was because I wanted a go-to date for frat formals. Anyway, she finally found out and confronted me about everything. I remember looking into her eyes as she listed all the evidence that I’d been a total jackass. I could see that she wasn’t angry or crazy jealous, necessarily. She was just hurt. She didn’t want to rant against me, or punish me. She wanted to understand. She won me over that night and turned me into a faithful man.”

— Theo, 24

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Trace the scars life has left you. It will remind you that at one point, you fought for something. You believed.

Trace the scars life has left you. It will remind you that at one point, you fought for something. You believed.

“You are the only person who gets to decide if you are happy or not—do not put your happiness into the hands of other people. Do not make it contingent on their acceptance of you or their feelings for you. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if someone dislikes you or if someone doesn’t want to be with you. All that matters is that you are happy with the person you are becoming. All that matters is that you like yourself, that you are proud of what you are putting out into the world. You are in charge of your joy, of your worth. You get to be your own validation. Please don’t ever forget that.” — Bianca Sparacino

Excerpted from The Strength In Our Scars by Bianca Sparacino.

Trace the scars life has left you. It will remind you that at one point, you fought for something. You believed.

Trace the scars life has left you. It will remind you that at one point, you fought for something. You believed.

“You are the only person who gets to decide if you are happy or not—do not put your happiness into the hands of other people. Do not make it contingent on their acceptance of you or their feelings for you. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if someone dislikes you or if someone doesn’t want to be with you. All that matters is that you are happy with the person you are becoming. All that matters is that you like yourself, that you are proud of what you are putting out into the world. You are in charge of your joy, of your worth. You get to be your own validation. Please don’t ever forget that.” — Bianca Sparacino

Excerpted from The Strength In Our Scars by Bianca Sparacino.

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