the girls are gonna be alright

if you are constantly being fear-mongered about your career trajectory, your love life, or just for being you…pull up a chair.

some of us are told that we are too lazy, others are too ambitious. or, you are concurrently tapped on each shoulder about two separate areas of your life i;e “you have a great career but where’s your significant other? don’t wait too long!”

I believe that it is totally okay, often times necessary even, to zero in on one area of your life for a period of time. everything is going to work out the way that it is intended to.

think about how many amazing things happen beyond your line of sight. you may have once thought, “how amazing would it be” if a certain restaurant or cafe were closer to your apartment? and then months later comes the good news. the grand opening of your favorite third space is just a few skips away.

you may have once admired a lifestyle when you were younger and thought, “I wish I could live like that— have friends like that, look that happy, and truly feel that free.” and then without realizing it, you look up one day to see that life surrounding you.

in my case, I have often (and sometimes, eerily) experienced scrolling back to old pinterest saves and found that my life imitates the very things that I once viewed as an unmet luxury.

and let’s be clear: focus and neglect are not one and the same. we can move through seasons dedicated to different priorities and without abandoning the others. our degrees of commitment may shift day to day so long as we are nurturing what matters most to us in small, consistent ways.

for as long as I can remember, I’ve sought improvement in my faith, mental health, skin health, hair health, and physical fitness. it wasn’t until I started breaking these goals into small habits and tracking them in my [micro habit tracker, linked here ] that I began to truly see progress.

some days, I feel like I need a longer workout and some days I feel like I need to read more chapters in the Bible. most days, I am improving in each of these areas, little by little.

recently, I went on a trip that required a bikini after months of a cold Michigan winter. with last-minute prep and a hectic schedule, I didn’t have time to do the workouts I had hoped for. I was pleasantly surprised to see that my daily walks, which I had been quietly committed to for months on end, kept me in far better shape than I had noticed.

physical fitness has not been my main focus lately but those small, steady habits have been quietly carrying me. progress was happening, even when I wasn’t paying attention.

let them worry about the one while you’re focused on the other, because everything will work out for you and it is ok to be relaxed about it (new affirmation).

don’t be anxious about what you’ve dreamed of and asked God for, it is coming. if you can patiently trust a waiter to bring the food that you have ordered, you can patiently trust that your life will be the one that you’ve hoped for.

let others be impatient with your life, but be still. it will come.

thanks for pondering with me,

Shaunie