07/24/2026
Faithful Friday to every soul reading this. I don't know what you're carrying, what mask you put on this morning, or what battle you fought before your feet even hit the floor—but I'm sending every ounce of positive energy, every prayer, and every bit of light I can muster straight to your spirit. We all need it. The world is loud, hearts are heavy, and the noise can make you forget who you are if you're not careful.
Today, this quote stopped me mid-stride. It wasn't loud or flashy. It was quiet, which made it hit even harder: "Trust yourself. Create the kind of self you will be happy to live with all your life." I read it once. Then again. Then I had to put my phone down and just breathe.
*Because here's the thing—my mind immediately took me back to a dark season of my life. A time I don't visit often, but clearly haven't fully healed from either. I remembered a saying I used to repeat like a broken prayer: "I don't trust the spit that comes out of my mouth because by the time it hits the ground, I don't know what it collected."
Where did that come from? Who hurt me so badly that I stopped trusting my own words? What betrayal, what manipulation, what gaslighting, what disappointment planted that seed so deep that I carried it for years like a badge of survival? I sat with that memory today. I didn't run from it. I asked my younger self: What were you going through? Who made you feel so small that you couldn't even trust your own voice to speak truth without picking up someone else's garbage along the way?
And then I looked in the mirror and asked the question I've been dodging for a long time: Do you trust you now?
And to my surprise, with no hesitation, I said: Heck yes. I trust me. I trust God. That's it. That's the list. Not another soul gets a VIP pass to my inner peace. Why? Because flesh fails. Because beautiful people with unhealed wounds can smile in your face while holding a dagger behind their back. Because human beings are unpredictable when they haven't done the work. But me and God? That covenant is unbreakable. That foundation is solid. I trust the Spirit within me, and I trust the woman I've fought to become through every fire, every flood, and every betrayal.
But then came the second punch of that quote: "Create the kind of self you will be happy to live with all your life."
That's not a surface-level question. That's not something you answer while scrolling. That requires excavation. So I asked myself: What is the actual evidence that I am happy with the life I have built? Not the filtered photos. Not the praise from others. Not the titles or the material things that impress people who don't pay my bills or carry my burdens. I'm talking deep, soul-level evidence.
So I broke it down.
First—what does happiness even mean to me? Let me be real: happiness isn't a constant state of giggles and sunshine. That's toxic positivity. To me, happiness is alignment. It's waking up and knowing that who I am, what I do, and what I believe are all pointing in the same direction. It's peace in the middle of chaos. It's contentment even when nothing is going my way. It's the ability to look at my reflection and feel proud, not because I'm perfect, but because I'm honest about my imperfections and still working on them.
Second—is the life I created fulfilling my primary purpose, my secondary goals, and my basic needs? Let me be honest with myself and with you: My primary purpose is to love God, serve others, and leave this earth better than I found it. Am I doing that? Some days yes, some days I fail miserably. But the evidence is in the people I've helped, the prayers I've spoken over strangers, the hands I've held, and the grace I've extended even when it cost me.
My secondary goals—my career, my relationships, my personal growth—are they feeding my soul or draining it? I had to check myself. Some goals I chased because I thought they'd make me look successful, not because they made me feel alive. Those got cut. The evidence of being happy with yourself is knowing when to release what you built because it no longer fits who you've become.
And my basic needs—emotional safety, physical health, rest, community, purpose—are they being met? Or am I running on empty, pouring from an empty cup, performing for approval while my own spirit is parched? The evidence isn't in how busy I am. It's in how rested I feel. It's in whether I can sit in silence without anxiety creeping in. It's in whether I can say "no" without guilt.
I don't know about you, but I've spent too many years being the person everyone else needed me to be. I've contorted myself into shapes that didn't fit just to keep the peace, keep the love, keep the job, keep the image. And somewhere along the way, I lost the blueprint of who I actually was.
But this Friday, I'm taking it back. I'm trusting me. I'm giving myself permission to create a self that I don't just tolerate—but that I genuinely enjoy living with. A self that laughs freely, cries openly, prays boldly, loves deeply, and walks away from anything that dims her light.
So now I'm asking you—not the Facebook version of you, not the WhatsApp version of you, but the real you that nobody sees at 2 a.m. when the thoughts get loud:
Are you happy with yourself? Not with your job, your relationship, your bank account—but with YOU? The soul inside the skin?
What does happiness look like in your real life—not your curated life?
Is the existence you've built actually feeding the person you were meant to become, or are you suffocating under expectations that were never yours to carry?
And the hardest one—do you actually trust yourself? Trust your decisions? Trust your instincts? Trust that even if you fall, you'll catch yourself? Because if you don't, it's time to ask why. And it's time to heal that why.
*I could write an entire epistle this morning. In fact, I basically did. But I'll leave you with this: You are not broken. You are not too much. You are not behind. You are exactly where you need to be to have this exact revelation. So take a breath. Hold your own hand. Look in the mirror and say it out loud: "I trust me. And I'm creating a me I love." *
Faithful Friday, my people. Go be gentle with yourself today. The world is heavy enough—don't be heavy on yourself. I'm praying for you. For real. 🙏🏾
