Many of us have been conditioned to not speak up for ourselves; to play small; to limit our needs and wants. It takes time and small steps to unlearn and relearn that you matter, that you don’t have to play small, that your needs and wants are important.

For most of us, it is a daily practice of taking care of our wounded parts, of nurturing and reparenting our inner children and cultivating and listening to our intuition and true selves. Give yourself a lot of space and love to process the feelings of learning and unlearning. There is both grief and joy involved in both processing and taking small steps toward your true self. Honor both sides and celebrate when you realize you are shifting toward where you want to be.

You matter and your voice matters.