Have you ever noticed how easy it is to lose yourself?
Not all at once.
Little by little,
Drip by drip.
You agree to something you didn't really have the capacity for,
You answer the text immediately,
You volunteer,
You stay late,
You smooth things over,
You say yes because saying no feels uncomfortable.
Individually,
None of those choices seem particularly significant.
But eventually.
.
.
You wake up wondering why you're exhausted.
Why?
You're irritated.
Why?
You can't hear yourself anymore.
Most people think they need a vacation.
What they really need.
Is to return.
And here is something I see all the time.
People assume they've lost themselves.
I don't.
I think that's true.
I think they've simply lost sight of themselves.
There is an important difference there.
Your wisdom doesn't disappear because life gets busy.
Your calm doesn't vanish because somebody disappoints you.
Your inner light doesn't stop shining because you've been overwhelmed.
It simply becomes harder to see.
Beneath the noise.
That is why I say mindfulness isn't about creating something that isn't there.
It's about noticing what's been there all along.
Healing isn't becoming,
It's remembering.
And remembering starts with one small pun.
I was reminded of this recently while helping my mother make one of the biggest transitions of her life.
We are beginning the process of moving her into a care facility.
It's heartbreaking in ways I didn't expect.
She has been fiercely independent her entire life,
And I'll tell you,
The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.
But watching somebody so strong have to face a new reality stirs up a lot.
There were moments when my instinct was to fix everything.
To make the decisions,
To carry her emotions.
And every time I felt myself rushing,
I noticed something.
The faster I moved to fix.
The harder it became to hear my own wisdom.
So I kept coming back to my breath.
Not because breathing magically solved anything.
Because it helped me.
Return to my cell.
Before responding to what was happening.
That simple practice changed every conversation.
Not because the circumstances changed,
But because I changed.
The next time someone asks something of you,
Before you answer.
Pause.
Take a slow breath.
And ask yourself,
Does this choice help me stay connected to myself?
Or does it pull me farther away?
That's it.
Not,
What should I do?
Not what will everybody think.
Just what helps me remain connected.
To me.
Sometimes the answer will still be yes.
Sometimes it'll be no.
Sometimes it'll be not right now.
This practice isn't choosing perfectly.
The practice is remembering to ask.
And being aware creates choice.
Here's a reminder.
Clouds can hide the sun,
But they never extinguish it.
Stress,
Grief,
People-pleasing,
Over-commitment.
They all make it harder to see your inner light,
But they cannot take it away.
Your work isn't creating more light.
Your work is trusting that it's still there.
And returning to it one breath at a time.
Because this moment.
Right here.
Is another opportunity to come back to yourself.
If this resonated,
Let me know in the comments what has a way of covering your inner light,
Not extinguishing,
Just covering it.
Until next time.
Take a slow breath.
Trust your wisdom.
And remember.
.
.
Your inner light never left.
It's simply waiting for you to notice it again.
