from: me. to: us.

it’s okay to be healed. it’s okay to not have an obstacle to overcome. it’s okay to breathe. it’s okay to simply be. turn around and REALLY look back at the battles you’ve fought. don’t you think you deserve to enjoy this peace? you do. i do, too. you’ve had an incredible amount of wars to conquer, it makes sense that you don’t trust this new found peace. it’s understandable that you’re questioning the safety of this season. you’re safe now. as a matter of fact, you were safe then. can’t you tell? that’s why you’re still here. you have always been safe. you were protected even when it felt like it was was open season and you were empty handed. both of those are lies — it’s never been open season and you’ve never been empty handed. sure, there were attacks coming from left and right but you were still covered. in your hands you held access to people praying for you, a therapist, and everything you needed to get you to today.

gift your soul the break that it needs. allow your spirit to experience the joy of being free and unguarded. disarm yourself and rest. be present and accept the truth of where you are:

you are healed*.

(*and still healing. it’s actually a forever thing. a constant. while you are alive there will be something to heal.)

you get to have a fresh start. you are not required to scrap your way to peace; coming from a deficit is not a prerequisite of joy.

it has felt strange to live comfortably without having a fight to wake up to, without having to war for peace or joy. i’m getting used to it. i have become better about honoring the truth of where i am, even if it’s contradicting. like being at peace but also nerves about whether the peace is permanent. they say peace is fleeting. i accept that. i also accept that wars are fleeting too. so if another one returns, it won’t outlast me, I will outlast it.

peace is our portion. that doesn’t mean the journey comes without conflict. peace is tender. hold it in your heart. let it settle within your spirit. you deserve its warmth and goodness. let it be a balm to comfort the scars of the past.

be present. don’t only notice the harvest, breathe-easy seasons in hindsight. live fully in now. pull fruit from now and store it for next. meaning, there will be a time (sooner or later) that you will have to roll up your sleeves to war again. it’s inevitable. even though now doesn’t have strife, there’s still fruit here. what is now teaching you about you? that’s fruit, these days have value other than the peace that they’re wrapped in.

it may not need to be said but I will say it anyway: yes, you are healed but there’s still work to do, this is not the end. even though there’s still work to do, you don’t always have to be in the process of doing it. every journey has rest stops and layovers, including healing, growing, and becoming. take a break. recenter. healing is not a chore, it is a choice. you have a lifetime to do the work in every part of you. it’s not a contest to see who can finish first. grow at your pace.

be gentle with your process. it’s sacred, honor it as such.