Staying with Myself

There is a lot I’m holding right now.

If I sit and think about it, I could easily feel overwhelmed.

Work that matters.
People who matter.
Responsibilities that don’t pause just because the calendar turned over, or because it’s Friday.

And for the first time in a long time, I’m noticing something different.

I’m still here handling it all.

In past seasons, when life became this full, I would slowly disappear inside it. I would keep showing up on the outside: doing, leading, organizing, creating while quietly abandoning myself on the inside.

This led to resentment and burnout.

I didn’t mean to.
It just felt necessary.

But this year, I’m practicing something new.

I’m staying with myself.

That doesn’t mean the load is lighter.
It means I’m not carrying it alone anymore at least not internally.

Staying with myself looks like noticing when my body tightens and softening instead of pushing through. It looks like allowing pauses without explaining them. It looks like choosing presence over urgency, even when there’s a lot to manage.

Taking a deep breath. Sleeping in.

I am here, for myself.

It’s realizing that capacity doesn’t come from doing less
it comes from being less fragmented and moving through the world from wholeness.

This is what Chosen looks like in real life.

Not being selected for an easier path.
Not being spared from responsibility.

But being entrusted with this season
and choosing not to abandon myself inside it.

Last year, Acceptance taught me how to stop resisting reality.
This year, Chosen is teaching me how to inhabit it.

Fully.
Honestly.
Without apology.

I’m learning that I don’t need to escape the fullness to find peace.
Peace shows up when I stop fighting where I am.

This year, I’m not asking, How do I get through this?
I’m asking, How do I stay present while I’m here?

That question is changing everything.

-Elizabeth