18/06/2026
Sometimes I look in the mirror and barely recognise the woman looking back at me.
It’s not just that I can’t wear makeup right now. It’s not just the skin flare-ups, the redness or the days when leaving the house feels overwhelming. It’s also the fact that I’m not the woman I imagined I’d be 20 years ago.
I thought I’d be a wife. I thought I’d be raising my children, surrounded by the life I’d always dreamed of.
Instead… life looked very different.
I still get up. I go to work. I drive my bus behind a pair of sunglasses, surrounded by strangers who don’t know my story.
But it’s the people who know of you, yet don’t really know you, that can be the hardest. The questions. The looks. The sympathy you never asked for. The feeling that the mask you’ve worn for so long has finally come off, and now there’s nowhere to hide.
The funny thing is… I’m beginning to realise I don’t want to hide anymore.
Because every setback, every heartbreak, every health battle and every disappointment has shaped the woman I am today.
She’s stronger.
She’s kinder.
She’s more compassionate.
And she’s finally learning that her worth was never tied to flawless skin, a relationship, or someone else’s approval.
Maybe that’s what this quote really means.
I’m learning to love the version of me that nobody claps for… because she’s the one who never gave up. 🤍
