Healing is not always easy. It can be painful to let go of what has shaped us, even if it has limited us. Sometimes, we become so used to our struggles that they feel like part of our identity. Freedom can feel unsettling. Growth can hurt. It can hurt to be fully seen even if it is the thing we long for most. But we are not meant to live bound by pain, fear, or the weight of expectations. We all carry something—perfectionism, addiction, comparison, disappointment, arrogance, self-doubt. The world itself can break us. But none of that defines us. Healing is possible. Wholeness is possible. No matter what we have endured, no matter what remains unseen, we are not forgotten. We are meant to stand tall, to be fully alive, and to know we are loved.
May we have the courage to be fully seen,
to embrace healing even when it hurts,
and to stand tall in the love that holds us.
(inspired by Nadia Bolz-Weber, Sometimes It Stings)