Someone said something to me recently that made me pause. They told me I needed to look at my ego because I talk about how good the framework I’m building is. And I did pause. Not because every criticism is true. But because part of my own work is being willing to look honestly at what lands in front of me. So I asked myself: Is this ego? Or is this me finally learning how to honor what I am creating? Because there is a difference. There is a difference between needing people to praise my work so I can feel worthy… and knowing I have built something with time, care, lived experience, deep listening, and a whole lot of my heart. There is a difference between making it about me… and being excited because the work is helping people meet themselves in a new way. For a long time, I think many of us were taught to be careful with our pride. Don’t get too big. Don’t sound too sure. Don’t make people uncomfortable. Don’t talk about what you’ve created like it actually matters. But part of accepting my own invitation to shine is learning to honor and respect what I am building. Not shrink it. Not over-explain it. Not wait for someone else to tell me it is good before I am allowed to know it is. And yes, I will keep checking myself. I want my work to stay rooted in service, not performance. I want it to point people back to themselves, not toward me. But I am also allowed to be proud. I am allowed to say, “This matters.” I am allowed to believe in what I am creating. Because shining is not the same thing as ego. Sometimes shining is simply refusing to apologize for the light you have finally stopped hiding.

For those of you in the first wave, our call is today at 11:00 central time. I emailed you the link so let me know if you did not get it. The Tuesday call is my monthly call inside of Alive that I share in here, We will be discussing the Wait What Watch module that you did in section 1.

Please check Marco Polo. I’ve sent you a message about our next zoom call. Did they start the last week of the five weeks for the first session of five modules.

I’ve been noticing how fast it happens. The shift. One second it’s a tight chest, a drop in the stomach, heat rising up my neck. Then almost immediately, it turns into a whole story. What they meant. What this says about me. Where this is going. It feels so true in the moment, like I’m reading reality clearly, but when I slow it down, I can see the gap. There’s a moment where it’s only sensation. No meaning yet. No conclusion. And then my mind steps in and starts building. Not because it’s wrong or broken, more because it’s trying to make sense of something it doesn’t like not understanding. I’ve spent years living in the story, reacting to it, defending it, proving it. These days I’m more interested in that small, almost invisible space right before the story takes over. When I catch it there, even briefly, something shifts. The intensity doesn’t disappear, but it softens. There’s a little more room to see what’s actually here instead of what I’ve decided it means. And sometimes what’s here is a lot simpler than the story I was about to run with.