I sit in the space of looking at a new year ahead, but also reflecting on the past year and all that 2022 has taught me. I’ve had some years where the waters felt smoother and others where I can look back and see what I like to call the ‘in-between’ time.
The time where the ground feels shaky and unsteady. Where you know you can’t go back to where you were, but don’t quite know what lies ahead. I couldn’t see it at the time, but those were the times I found my resilience. Where I was able to dig deep and find an inner strength to just keep going.
It is in those moments that I was taught my biggest lessons and experienced the most profound growth. I have learned as each year passes that gratitude is a key component to peace. If you can learn how to sit in gratitude during each moment, peace will meet you there. But that means thanking God through the pain. To be able to see the true blessings in it and understand you had to go through that pain to become the person you were meant to be.
I birthed Renew during one of my in-between times. When nothing was solid, and I wasn’t sure what lied ahead for myself or my family. I was drowning in grief and couldn’t see the lessons at the time. I couldn’t see the purpose in the pain, but I kept going. I allowed myself to feel in order to heal. I gave myself grace, but I never stopped.
I always looked at others who have been able to overcome huge adversities or challenges in life and wondered how they did it. Now I know, you build resilience moment by moment. It requires you to live with faith and continually sit in gratitude. To build resilience, you must have hope and to have hope you must have faith. A trust that you are right where you are meant to be and the lessons you are learning are taking you where you are meant to go.
I’ve watched people time and time again come to the end of themselves. Most times when they seek out self-care, they have given until they have nothing left. Their cups are already empty, and they feel defeated. But what they don’t know is they are coming in resilient, not broken. The weariness and pain they carry is actually strength and survival. Most times they don’t understand that they are right where they should be.
One of my main goals with Renew is to empower you to rediscover your true self and inner strength. To share my personal journey as a means to offer insight and a perspective on being resilient. So, I ask that you reflect on 2022 and all that it brought you. Think about the lessons it taught you. Really reflect and sit in those moments. Allow yourself to feel what you need and give yourself the grace to let go.
All that growth will then manifest into a better, stronger, more resilient version of YOU.
My hope for 2023 is that you all would truly know what it means to:
Rediscover ● Renew ● Re-You
