Slower, Wealthier, Happier

Good morning, beautiful ✨

Happy last day of July. What a month this has been. As I sit here thinking about everything this month has held, one thought continues to come back to me: It all works for your good. It’s a phrase I’ve heard my entire life. One I’ve quoted to myself more times than I can count. But this week, I found myself asking a different question. Does it really? And maybe an even better question is this: What if it does, but not in the way we expected?

This past week, I had my therapy appointment, and we spent time talking about all of the new things I have been experiencing. I found myself sharing one realization after another. I can tell my medication is working differently. I can tell that situations that would have normally sent my anxiety through the roof now simply catch my attention. I’m aware of them, but they no longer consume me in the same way. That realization alone felt like such a gift because I can finally see the difference between surviving and simply noticing.

As we continued talking, another realization quietly made its way into the conversation. For years, because my brain has always been incredibly active, I developed routines to help me settle down at night. I learned how to self-soothe. I learned what to watch, what to listen to, and what I needed to do to help my mind slow down enough for me to fall asleep. Those routines worked. They served me well. They were exactly what I needed during that season of my life.

Several weeks ago, my therapist suggested I try something different before bed. I tried it, and honestly, it didn’t work for me. So I simply tucked the idea away. I wasn’t opposed to it; it just wasn’t what I needed at that moment. But this week, as I was explaining everything that has changed, something became incredibly clear. The anxiety that once required those old bedtime routines isn’t showing up the way it used to. Which means the routines that were created to support that version of me aren’t working the way they once did either.

It wasn’t that those systems were bad. They weren’t broken. They didn’t fail me. They actually worked exactly as they were supposed to. They carried me through a season that required a certain level of care, attention, and support. But I am beginning to realize that when we change, our systems often have to change too. I don’t think we talk about that enough.

Sometimes we hold onto old ways of thinking, old routines, old habits, and even old coping mechanisms because they once worked so beautifully. We become so loyal to the systems that helped us survive that we forget to ask whether they’re still helping us thrive. We keep trying to make yesterday’s solutions solve today’s problems, when today’s problems may require an entirely different approach. That realization has stayed with me all week.

As I prepare to walk into August, I can already feel myself becoming more open to things I hadn’t considered before. There are opportunities that once felt uncomfortable that now feel interesting. There are ideas I would have immediately dismissed that I’m now willing to explore. Not because I’ve lowered my standards, but because I’ve changed. And maybe the new version of me requires new ways of thinking, new rhythms, and new systems that match the life I’m creating instead of the life I was simply trying to survive.

So maybe it really is true. Maybe it all works for our good. Not because every season feels good while we’re living it, but because every season teaches us something we will eventually need. The old systems weren’t wrong. They were necessary. They got us here. But perhaps one of the greatest acts of growth is having the courage to thank them for carrying us this far and then lovingly releasing them so we can embrace what this new season is asking of us.

As July comes to a close, I find myself filled with gratitude. Gratitude for the woman I was. Gratitude for the systems that carried me. And even more gratitude for the woman I am becoming and the willingness to discover what will serve her best.

Here’s to August.

Love,

Your Most Magical Self ✨