Real talk, life has been tough lately.

Don’t get me wrong, this def isn’t a pity party. I’m going to be justttt fine. I’m just smack dab in the middle of a season of change and with that comes a lot of unrest.

Truthfully, I’ve never minded social media being a highlight reel. In fact, I like being able to celebrate a lot of the great things about our lives and memories. I also appreciate when people can show up and be real about the ups and downs of life. So here I am keeping it real.

So many of us struggle in silence or only talk about the hard times we’ve gone through AFTER we’ve overcome them. We put on these fronts day to day that everything is peachy only later to expose that wasn’t actually the case. And listen, I get why people do it.

When you say “tough times” people run away from those conversations. It can be uncomfortable and It’s a lot easier to talk about struggles when they are past tense. When you’re on the other side and you’ve had time to reflect on those teachable moments or let your wounds heal.

Here’s the thing though, going through tough times isn’t a weakness, it’s real life, and I think there’s a lot of power in speaking up while you are mid-storm. When you don’t have all of the answers but keep showing up anyways. When you’re going through those messy chapters taking things a day at a time.

Those are the times you’re tested.
Those are the times you are pushed to make changes.
Those are the times you grow.

Maybe it’s not as eloquent or approachable to talk about, but when it comes to life I want to acknowledge ALL of it. My highest highs, painful lows and everything in between. Because you’ll only ever know my full story when you can read all of the chapters.