Slower, Wealthier, Happier

Good morning, beautiful,

I want to talk to you about the kind of courage that does not always get celebrated. The kind that shows up quietly. The kind that looks like choosing yourself even when it means being misunderstood.

For a long time, I was afraid of what it would mean to be seen doing things differently. Especially when that difference touched something sacred. Something traditional. Something that had shaped my life and my community for years.

Walking away from church tradition was not easy for me. It was not rebellious or dramatic. It was tender. It was thoughtful. It came from a deep need to be honest about where I was spiritually and emotionally. But honesty does not always translate as acceptable to people who are used to sameness.

There was fear there. Fear of being judged. Fear of being talked about. Fear of being labeled as doing something wrong or sinful or off path simply because my path no longer looked familiar. And with that fear came loss.

Some friendships changed. Some connections faded. People who once checked in stopped calling. Invitations disappeared. Participation quietly ended. Not because anything happened out loud, but because I no longer fit neatly into the same box.

That hurt.

It is one thing to choose differently. It is another thing to live through the consequences of that choice. To feel the absence. To notice who stays and who does not. To sit with the reality that being true to yourself can cost you proximity to people you once shared space with.

But here is what I learned.

When I gave myself permission to be seen doing it differently, I also gave myself permission to become my own support. My own advocate. My own safe place. I stopped waiting for approval to move forward. I stopped shrinking my truth to make other people comfortable.

And something unexpected happened.

I grew stronger.

I became clearer. I trusted myself more deeply. I found a steadiness that did not depend on being validated or included. I learned how to stand in my choices without needing them to be understood by everyone.

There is something magical that happens when you choose the desire of your heart anyway. When you move forward even while your voice shakes. When you show up fully as yourself knowing you might be seen differently, talked about, or misunderstood.

That magic is self alignment.

It is the moment when your inner life and your outer life stop fighting each other. It is the moment when peace replaces performance. When you realize that being true to yourself is more sustaining than being accepted for a version of you that is no longer real.

You do not have to do it the way it has always been done. You do not have to stay in spaces that require you to abandon yourself. You do not have to explain your evolution to people who are committed to misunderstanding it.

You are allowed to be seen as you are becoming.

This year, let yourself walk forward without waiting for permission. Let yourself trust that what is meant for you will meet you where you are, not where you pretend to be.

Loving yourself enough to go for it is never the wrong choice.

Love Always,

Your most magical self ✨