Human being not a human doing

My favourite thing I have lived by this week is "Before all else, I am a human being". Before you desperately try to meet the expectations of the world, you are a human being. A human being with a beating heart and a story worth listening to. That is at your core. And if you cannot acknowledge that, everything else will begin to suffer. Nurture these qualities, nurture your intrinsic life in whatever way you need. You will never owe anyone anything by choosing solitude over burnout. If you're struggling to keep pace right now, I know you can continue growing, healing, evolving, learning and unlearning because without knowing it, you already are.

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about emotions and the way they infiltrate into our lives. I was reading my journal from the beginning of the year today and I had wrote about something I was so worried and upset over. I read that now and those worries were unfounded because they never turned into reality. And everything was so much brighter and better than I could imagine it to be in that moment. I empathise for past me because feeling anxiety and stress are heavy emotions to carry when the future feels unknown. But this is why it’s so important we don’t believe anything is final, and the very reason we must hold on despite how weighted our emotions feel.

I think when we acknowledge our emotions but not tie them to our chest we can find freedom and more peace. When you trust the process "the tightness you feel in your chest isn't scarcity or fear, rather freedom for your lungs to fill with a different type of air on each deep inhale. And the ache in your heart is just the growing to make space for your people" - Simple Affinity.

Always be gracious and kind to others. Always be gracious and kind to yourself.

Love Jess xx