This has been an undeniable comeback year for country music superstar Carrie Underwood — in more ways than one.
In addition to releasing her first new album in three years, the upcoming "Cry Pretty," the singer has also made a triumphant return following a fall last year that left her with a broken wrist, abrasions and a wound that required more than 40 stitches to her face.
Now Underwood is opening up about life in the wake of all of that, revealing that her injuries didn't leave her feeling worse for the wear. Instead, she feels grateful and confident.
"Life is full of ups and downs, and I might have had a few more downs than ups last year," the 35-year-old explained in an interview with Redbook.
That prompted her to do some "soul-searching," and she learned important lessons in what she found.
"Anytime someone gets injured, it looks pretty bad in the beginning, and you're like, 'What is this going to wind up like?' You just don't know," she said. "It was also a perception thing, because I look at myself (now) and I see it quite a bit, but other people are like, 'I wouldn't have even noticed.' Nobody else looks at you as much as you think they do. Nobody notices as much as you think they will, so that's been nice to learn."
It's a perspective that's helped her, and she believes it could help other women struggling to find their confidence.
"The first thing I would tell them is that we're all insecure; that's just called being human," Underwood insisted. "I feel like the most important thing to realize is that even people who seem to be super confident have insecurities that they are dealing with. Honestly, you just do the best you can. Don't worry about things you can't change."
For her, that includes tabloid headlines that went into overdrive during her time away from the spotlight last year. While she shied away from cameras in the months after her fall, she was open about what happened. However, that didn't stop tabloid speculation that it was really all just a cover for some elective plastic surgery.
"I'm on some magazine every other week for something crazy," she said. "It's a little sad, because the truth is just as interesting. I wish I'd gotten some awesome plastic surgery to make this (scar) look better. But I try not to worry too much about it. My mom will be like, 'Did you see they are saying this about you?' And I'll be like, 'Mama, I don't care. I'm just trying to raise my son and live my life.'"
Just last month, Underwood marked her eighth anniversary with her husband, retired hockey star Mike Fisher, with a moving message on Instagram.
"I love you today more than yesterday ... which was more than the day before ... and so on and so forth," she wrote. "Here’s to many more years together!"
As for the rest of her future, she's leaving that up to a higher power.
"I'm hoping I'm still lucky enough to be making music," she told Redbook. "I love going on the road and putting together shows I'm proud of, but I don't know where I'll be in 10 years. I don't know where I'll be next week. By the grace of God, I'm just lucky enough to live another day, and that's good by me."
If you want more from Underwood, tune into TODAY on Sept. 14 to see the "Champion" singer hit the plaza for a summer concert to remember.