This week’s Self-Love Reflections post comes from Emily. Join her as she shares her growth through a tough relationship decision and having to do what was right for her.

Hi FFF readers! I'm Emily and I (semi) blog over at Healthy Creature. I've been reading Tina's blog for almost a year now and I'm so thrilled to share my story today.

I dated the same guy from my sophomore year in high school through my junior year in college. We were in youth group together, hung out a bunch of times, and then all of a sudden we just clicked and started dating. He was so good to me, took care of me, loved me, and immediately we were headed down the dating-then-marriage road. I knew early on I wanted to marry him, and never questioned it. I saw my life ahead of me...having kids and supporting him in his youth ministry and it made me happy.

Since I was a Spanish major, part of my plan was to study in Spain. I had visited in high school with my Spanish teacher, and my mom said that the second I hopped off the bus, my first words were, "I'm going back, mom." Return I did. I almost didn't because I just couldn't bear to be separated from my man, and the first week was the hardest. I was hit with awful homesickness...mostly for him, but also for my family, school, friends etc (naturally). He ended up making plans to come and visit during spring break in March. I was ecstatic and that helped me make it through the next few months.

While I had my "light at the end of the tunnel," I started to grow in ways I never expected as I adapted to living in a new country. I loved, loved living in Sevilla, and because I had so much distance between me and my life back home, I started to think about what I wanted and who I was. I knew he was visiting in a short bit, and hoped to talk to him about how I was feeling and that maybe I didn't want to follow the exact path we had laid out for our relationship anymore.

March finally came, he and my sister visited and I was so happy. The second day he was there, he insisted we take a carriage ride through the city. When we entered at the Parque Maria Luisa, he turned to me, told me he would love me forever and asked if I would marry him. It was truly a perfect proposal, a beautiful ring, and perfect moment.

Why did I feel like I wanted to throw up? The truth is that when he proposed, my first thought was "Oh no." I had been thinking a lot, but had not completely worked everything out. He was going along with our original "plan" but in my gut, I knew it wasn't right for me anymore. I did say yes in the moment, and hoped it was just a really, really early onset of cold feet. He went home, and I spent the next few weeks caught up in the excitement of imminent wedding planning. A short while later, I re-read some of my journal entries I had written at the beginning of my stay and realized I did not have cold feet. I was just not ready to get married.

Shortly after arriving home, I told him I wasn't ready, and that was probably the worst night of my life. I felt horrible. He felt horrible and rejected. I started to question my decision, but as time passed, it became more clear that I was not ready for marriage at this stage in my life. It was not so clear to him, and I spent a good nine months experiencing a lot of anger and guilt from him. It was certainly warranted, I know that. But my decision was that I was not ready to be married and just wanted to wait, not that I didn't ever want to marry him, which I had made clear. Eventually, he came to the conclusion he might never be married, started seeing someone the next summer, and married her shortly after.

That was about 6 years ago. If I hadn't done what I did, I would not have acknowledged who I am and what I wanted out of life. I'm sure I would have been happy to an extent if everything had progressed as planned, but I realized that I also needed to find my own passions and stay true to the core of who I am.

I think about my life now and how it could be, and I know I made the right decision. Not once have I regretted or wished I hadn't broken off my engagement. I spent my teenage years and early twenties in his shadow and the self discovery I gained from the whole experience is priceless. I also believe that my decision was the stepping stone for the many changes and experiences I have had since then. It's certainly hard at times watching my friends get married, have children and see their lives evolve in a way mine won't until I enter that stage in my life.

However, one challenge I have set for myself comes from a Jim Elliot quote: Wherever you are, be all there. While I don't always do this perfectly, this reminder keeps me grounded and focused on where I am in my life and reminds me to enjoy this season and not worry about the past or anticipate the future to the point where I miss out on today.

• Have you encountered a defining moment/decision in your life similar to Emily’s? What was it?

Happy Sunday morning!! Take the time today to think about how awesome you are…because it’s true. Allow Brittany from Itty Bits of Balance to share her story in believing in herself. She has come a long way and you can too! Catch you all later!

Hello fellow FFF readers! My name is Brittany & I blog over at Itty Bits of Balance.

It is an honor and a privilege to be contributing to Tina's Positive Sunday installment with my story of how I achieved the strength & confidence that I carry around with me today.

I'm the first to admit, I can be a complete wack-job at times:

I'm not afraid to make a fool of myself,

and I love to take the occasional crazy face photo.

I try my best to exuberate strength, confidence, and a sense of balance on a daily basis, however, things haven't always been this easy for me.

Throughout my youth, I was battling a constant struggle with weight & body image issues. For as long as I can remember, I was continuously tormented and teased for being roughly 20-30 pounds overweight, and like a lot of young girls I took it very personally. I went through 18 years of fad diets and binges– yet the results were never consistent and as soon as I started to eat normally again the excess weight found its way back.

Finally in 2010, I told myself that enough was enough.

At the age of 19 I decided that I was sick of sulking and feeling sorry for myself-- It was time for me to prove what I was capable of. I woke up one morning, read about The Disney Princess Half Marathon on Gina's blog and decided that I was going to train for it.

Just. like. that.

And boy, did I run my little white booty off.

Now, any normal person would go on vacation after four months of torture, or maybe even take a little trip to the day spa. Me? I decided to go big or go home.

I then proceeded to sign up to run the 26.2 mile Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco, California on October 17, 2010 with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training (Read about my flashback here.) In the process, I simultaneously raised $2,954.20 for the cause. Crossing that finish line was undeniable proof that nothing was going to stop me.

So how does my story pertain to you? Why should you care that I ran a marathon and found my "inner strength"?

Because nobody should EVER live the way that I was living before. All of us are filled with strength just waiting to burst out of our beings and overwhelm us with confidence. The problem is that many of us have that little voice inside telling us that we're "too big", "too small", "too fat", "too slow" or my personal favorite, "too weak." Whether your goal is to run a marathon, be more successful at your job, or even to be a better friend or mother.

Don't listen to that voice. Get up, get out, and go show me your strength!

I'll just be waiting over here making some faces 🙂

• How have you found your “inner strength”? What “little voice” do you need to tell to shut up sometimes?