Is it possible to build a healthy relationship if, since childhood, love has been associated with pain, fear, and disappointment? The story of Yuliia Rudakova is about how inner wounds can rule our lives for years until we find the courage to look them in the eye.
Specially for Business Woman magazine, as part of the project by the Portuguese representative office “The Power of a Dream,” Yuliia shared her personal story of transformation — from a girl who lost faith in love to a woman who managed to create a happy and harmonious relationship.
“I was five years old when my mother grabbed me by the hand and ran out into the street barefoot, escaping from conflicts with my father. That was the exact moment I realized: I don’t want it this way,” Yuliia recalls.
However, along with this childhood decision, another conviction became deeply embedded in her mind: men cannot be trusted, and love is dangerous.
At thirteen, she lost her mother. This loss left a deep void that Yuliia tried to fill through relationships. She looked for love in men, hoping to find the warmth and support she so desperately missed.
But the script repeated itself every single time.
New relationships did not bring inner peace; they only confirmed old fears. And only later did a vital realization come: the problem was not the people around her.
“I realized that no change of partner changes the script. Only one thing changes it — the relationship with oneself,” she says.
Building the Inner Foundation
That was when Yuliia stopped looking for “the one” and started building her own inner support system. She learned to listen to herself, work with her beliefs, and meet her own inner needs independently, rather than through other people.
This path led her not only to personal changes but also to true love. Today, Yuliia is happily married to a man with whom she tied the knot near the cliffs where, according to legend, Aphrodite was born.
For her, a happy relationship is not about perfection or the absence of difficulties.
- It is about the opportunity to be yourself.
- It is about not betraying your own values.
- It is about not begging for love, but feeling it inside yourself.
“Then you don’t look for someone to save you. You simply choose the person you want to share your happiness with,” Yuliia is convinced.Empowering Others
Today, she helps other women walk a similar path to themselves and shares her own experience through training, consultations, and her author’s book about relationships and inner transformation.
With her story, Yuliia reminds us: our past affects us, but it does not define our future. Even the most painful scripts can be rewritten if you find the courage to start with yourself.
Yuliia Rudakova’s story became one of the stories of “The Power of a Dream” project — an initiative by the Portuguese representative office that unites women who have gone through trials, losses, and re-evaluations, and managed to turn their own experience into a source of strength.
After all, sometimes the path to great love does not begin with searching for another person.
It begins with returning to yourself.
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Photo: from the heroine’s archieve