Leaving

This was from an article about Reese Witherspoon being interviewed by Oprah about leaving an abusive relationship (excerpts).

"Most difficult decision" she ever had to make to fulfill her destiny was "leaving an abusive relationship."

She faced psychological, verbal abuse on several occasions from a person in her past.

As for what led her to leave the relationship, Witherspoon recalls, "A line got drawn in the sand and it got crossed and my brain just switched and I knew it was going to be very difficult, but I just couldn't go any further."

W. believes that it was at this moment that altered the trajectory of her life. "I could never be the person I am today," she explains. "It changed who I was on a cellular level, the fact that I stood up for myself. None of those leaving those situations...it's wrought with self-doubt, particularly if someone damages your self-esteem."

She continues, "People say to me that knew me then, 'You're a completely different person.' I didn't have self-esteem. I'm a different person now and it's part of why I can stand up and say, 'yes, I'm ambitious.'-because someone tried to take that from me before."