One of my biggest battles was dealing with the pain of rejection from my father and later, from my daughter's father. This caused me to feel less than and as a result, my daughter didn't get the best me. I was angry and guilty. My mum was a single mother and now I was too. I felt unworthy of love, that no one would ever want me and I couldn't relate to God as a father because my view of fathers was warped.  

It took many years for me to love myself.  First, accepting myself, then liking myself.

Something that kept me going was my mother's words... "You can achieve in spite of your parents" and "You are valuable simply because you're you. You were created with value, dignity and worth.   You are not one of a kind, or one in a million.  You are a designer hand crafted original.  You are unique!"  

My dad wasn't present in my life and that had a tremendous impact on it but now I am me, working daily on becoming a better me.