Three years ago today, on September 20, 2023, I publicly shared that my marriage was ending after discovering infidelity.

What people saw was the post. What they didn’t see was everything happening behind it.

I remember how heavy everything felt. I was hurt, embarrassed, angry, and grieving. I had absolutely no idea where the next three years would take me. I was battling depression and taking antidepressants while trying to stabilize my nervous system.

Some days, getting through the day was the victory. And yet, here I am.

Fast forward three years, and somehow this chapter includes me building an entirely different life abroad, auditing and rebuilding my village, and getting stuck in elevators.

Life is WILD. Life is life-ing. And people are definitely people-ing. Whew, chileee. 😂

But underneath all the jokes, there is something I will never take lightly:
I made it to the other side.

I would look at the Teaching for the Culture pledge often and remind myself that freedom and fulfillment weren’t just words I encouraged other people to pursue. I deserved them too.

Finding love again taught me something I desperately needed to learn:
Divorce did not mean my opportunity to experience healthy love was over. Someone else’s betrayal did not decrease my value, diminish my capacity to be loved, or determine what I deserved next.

There was still tenderness waiting for me. There was still joy waiting for me. There was still love waiting for me. There was still a version of my life that I hadn’t even met yet.

And now that I’m living in it, I’m experiencing a level of softness, safety, and peace that is almost impossible to put into words. I feel deeply blessed to know what it feels like to be held by a life that no longer requires me to fight my way through every moment. I have space to breathe, receive care, experience peace, and actually enjoy the freedom and fulfillment I fought so hard to find.

So yes, the elevator had me stuck for a minute. Meta might still be getting on my everlasting nerves. 😂 But my life isn’t stuck anymore.

And three years later, that is what I am most grateful for.

I’m not where I was. I’m not who I was. I no longer live in a version of my life that requires me to constantly survive, shrink, or question what I deserve.

I kept going long enough to meet a softer, freer, more fulfilled version of myself.

If you’re reading this while standing in the middle of your own heartbreak, transition, grief, disappointment, or season of rebuilding, please hear me:
The way your life feels right now is not proof of how your life will always feel.

You do not have to know exactly how you’re going to rebuild. You do not have to see the whole road from where you’re standing. You don’t even have to know who you’re becoming yet.

Sometimes your only assignment is to survive today long enough to meet the version of you who made it through.

And one day, you may look back at the season you thought would destroy you and realize it became the doorway to a life you could not have imagined yet.

There may still be peace you haven’t experienced yet. Love you haven’t encountered yet. Places you haven’t traveled yet. And a version of yourself waiting on the other side who is going to be so thankful that you kept going.

Here’s the affirmation created just for you:

I am not stuck. My story is still being written.

I honor the version of me who survived what I once thought would destroy me.

I am allowed to heal. I am allowed to grow. I am allowed to become someone new without apologizing for who I had to be to survive.

I release the belief that my hardest chapter gets to define the rest of my story.

My life is moving forward. My heart is still open. My future is still full of possibility.

And even when I cannot see everything ahead of me, I trust that there is still so much beauty, softness, freedom, fulfillment, and love waiting for me.

I survived that chapter. I do not have to live there anymore.

Sending y’all love, light, and peace! 🫶🏾✨💜