Les Douces

Turning 30.

My twenties? A whole different life. Constant pressure, self-doubt, the obsession with having it all figured out. Always thinking I need to push one step further rather than stepping one down. 

I somehow build myself a golden cage that looked nice from the outside, but felt anything but free.

My biggest critic? Always me.

I looked for validation in jobs, people, opinions. But nothing made me feel seen.

Only when I turned down the noise and asked myself:

Who am I with everything I am and who do I really want to be in this world?

everything began to shift.

Self-love is still the hardest thing I’ve had to learn – and it’s a daily practice.

But here’s something I wish someone had told me earlier:

If you accept and love yourself exactly the way you are, nothing can truly shake you.

And also maybe there’s no final arrival to a final version of us. Maybe there is no final arriving to anything: Life, money, career.

Maybe the constant evolving and curiosity is what keeps us really alive. 

Today I know that my version of arriving has nothing to do with money or success. It’s the people I surround myself with, how I choose to live my life and how I feel about myself. 

Was it always easy? Hell no.

Was it sometimes a complete mess? Absolutely.

Would I do it all over again? Probably not.

Was it the path that shaped me for who I am today? 100%.

Never compare yourself to others. It’s your life, it’s your decision, it’s your timing. Create a life that only you need to like and no one else.

We should honor every single version of ourselves who kept us going and shaped the version we are today. 

And maybe that’s the point. Not to arrive, but to keep walking.

One step at a time.