I was not brought up to believe much in myself. I thought I'd never know happiness, would be in dead end jobs that I didn't like all my life, have no self-esteem, end up in a bad marriage, and that my only saving grace would be having a few kids and leading them towards better opportunities than I'd had.

None of it ended up happening like that. I've had a rich social life, a good marriage, and despite not having more than a 7th grade education I've had a fairly illustrious career. (But sadly, no kids. Hub and I didn't get around to it in time.) Nothing my parents taught me about life and about myself was true.