building resilience – Sarah Faith

pause

if you’re following along with my things on this blog, i feel like i owe you an apology of sorts. it’s been a minute since i wrote in here. but. that’s going to change.

there’s a lot of irons in the fire on my side of the fence — family and kids, music, business, and things added in here and there that don’t fit into any categories at all, like building a chicken coop (haha yes. for real). i lost track of this community for a minute… but that’s ok. or at least i’m hoping it is 🙂

i’ve found that when i feel overwhelmed with the number of “things” the best thing i can actually do is pause. take a step back from one or two or three of the things. figure out if all of the things i’m doing actually need to stay. what can go. what do i want to continue to invest time in. by now we’ve all wished we could have more time in a day for long enough and it’s still not happening. so if that’s not going to change, we need to.

so i put the blog down for a second along with a couple other things that seemed like great things on paper, but if i’m not able to invest the time to do them well, what’s the point? power through to overwhelm and just do things with half effort? tempting… i do always say that done is better than perfect. but when i see my overall mental capacity decreasing as i have less and less space to even think, something had to go.

i find value, though, in nurturing through written word. i feel like it’s something with external as well as internal benefit… so i think it’s time this gets added back into the rotation.

this blog has always been a place for me to share mental health, motivation, self-care, and overall mindset things i’ve learned along the way or am personally working through or am gaining insight on. my compass has been Holy Spirit, and it will continue to be. i can’t take credit for all the good ideas i have — they’re borrowed, but i believe they need an outlet, because keeping them to myself would be selfish. kind of like music and songs — i write them, but if i never share them or give them to anyone, what purpose do they serve?

let this be your reminder that it’s ok to pause. it’s ok if you’re not where you thought you would be. it’s ok if stuff doesn’t look like you thought it would. it’s ok if God’s plan looks different than your own — actually, if you’re anything like me, that’s sometimes a very good thing. i’ve talked myself in more negative, overly self-critical circles than i can count, and i’m just here trying to help someone get off the ride a little faster than i did with as little collateral damage as possible. here’s how:

encourage → i wanna remind you you’re not alone in your struggles and give you hope to keep going.

equip → i always love to share tools, habits, and practices that actually make life lighter, healthier, and more balanced.

normalize → i wanna break the stigma around mental health and self-care by talking about the messy and the real.

inspire → i like to show you what it looks like to grow through faith, resilience, and self-compassion.

connect → i wanna co-create a space where you feel seen, understood, and like part of this community.

thank you for being here. thank you for sharing in my vulnerability. thank you for taking any of my advice — it truly is something i hope serves you. take what you need and live a little lighter today, knowing you’re not alone and whatever valley you’re in is never permanent.

♥, SF

vision

what’s yours? when you think about the word “vision” what comes to mind? is it a word that excites you or stresses you out?

i’ll be honest, it stresses me out sometimes. and i know exactly why.

i’m an ex-college athlete – i know what it is to set goals and work hard to achieve them. it’s hard wired into my soul. it’s who i am. to my core, i love working hard towards achieving my vision.

but what sucks is when your vision and reality aren’t playing nice together. i sometimes have a hard time liking my vision because it doesn’t feel like it’s coming true. doesn’t feel like it’s gonna be anything more in this lifetime than a nice sounding collection of “hey, wouldn’t that be nice?” fleeting daydreams.

i have a vision board this year – that statement matters because i had never created one until this year. wanna know why? i thought it was stupid. i’m just being really honest. i didn’t see the point. i’ve made magazine collages before and i thought i was above it.

my relationship with my mother? failed. my first marriage? failed. chasing dreams and envisioning things in my life hasn’t seemed to work all that well for me but you know what i’ve learned? if you’re not shooting for anything, not working towards something, you’re just standing still, which is probably the biggest waste of all.

so… yes. in 2024, i decided to have a vision board. and you know what i have to also make sure i’m mentally building into my vision? wiggle room.

make some dang space! leave some room for stuff to not go as planned. heck, leave room for it go sideways, wayward, off track, make no sense, and what i love most is leaving room for it to be BETTER than you could have originally imagined.

i’m guilty of setting a goal and only feeling like i’m successful if that EXACT goal was achieved…. no. i’ve been missing it. that’s not the definition of success. make some space in your vision – leave some room for possibility. and quit thinking you’ve got the best plan in your mind. what if there’s more? what if you’re seeing what’s right in front of your feet correctly with your lantern and what’s up around the corner is about to absolutely blow your mind??

did this meet you where you were today? <3 i sure hope so.

one more thing. and this is SO WEIRRRDDDDDDD!!!!!!! we just did a bathroom remodel… one of my photos on my vision board is of a bathtub with candles to remind me to prioritize self care. that’s been a really huge focus for me this year. here’s the WEIRD PART!!!!!!! the photo looks SO MUCH like the bathtub and bathroom we just created…. and i didn’t even TRY to do that!!! we bought this bath tub because it had the look we wanted and it was on sale… i’m completely serious. DARE TO CREATE THE VISION and then stand back and be amazed at what happens.

when you don’t feel like it

story tiiimmmeeee!!!

i woke up this morning at 6:45am with no alarm. that may not sound that early for some, but that is NOT normal for me. i am not a morning person – i don’t care what you heard. they lied.

honestly, my first thought? go back to bed. but then… i thought to myself… “i think you’re supposed to get up…” so i did.

it was a weird, inconvenient morning… i had a bible study group i had been invited to attend, but the night previous i did that thing where i “loosely commit” (“i’m gonna try and make it in the morning…” so non-committal…) so that i could have an easy out in the morning if i didn’t feel like going… we’ve all done it. c’mon, tell me i’m not the only one.

well. against my better judgment… i decided to just cut the crap, commit, and get my butt in the car. but i wanted to read more. but i wanted to journal more. i wanted to sit around more. i wanted to eat more. but. but. but. and then i got in the car…

as i was driving, i noticed there was an absurd number of cars that were on the shoulder with flat tires… and then immediately realized that was because there was an absolutely absurd number of Car-Sized Potholes waiting to do the same thing to me… i thought to myself, “maybe i should turn around. maybe this isn’t safe. i should just go home… where i can get back in my PJs and scroll the day away…. i mean WORK…. WORK the day away…” (we all know how this trap works…)

but i pressed on. despite my mind’s many attempts to get me to turn around, throw in the towel, and pack it in.

when i got there… i was met with an overwhelming sense of peace that i’m not really sure i can accurately explain. i’m usually not all that comfortable in the middle of a room of people i don’t know, but i sat down and struck up a conversation with a stranger instead. surprised the pants off of myself…

the dialogue that was in this room was nothing short of amazing. within 10 minutes of starting, i felt like i finally understood why pushing through all of my futile excuses and feeble attempts to stay home were worth trampling. THIS. this is what life has for us when we decide to push our boundaries and lean into our discomfort. it’s the goodness. the zest. the juice that is so worth the squeeze. these little nuggets and tidbits that we so easily miss because we “don’t feel like it.”

not only would i have missed some really good biblical inspiration, i would’ve missed the conversations with two of my friends that i don’t see often enough, which were absolutely lined with gold. humans were created for connection. and social media does. not. count, people. so stop it. it’s a cheap alternative. it’s like… the fool’s gold of human connection.

don’t get me wrong. i’m well away that i would’ve gone about my day just fine with or without this women’s group, that’s a definite. but i proved to myself that my own internal resistance was worth pressing into this morning. i showed myself there’s more to life than what i do or don’t feel like doing. there are great things in this life to enjoy if we’ll just lean in a little and take the leap, as mini or mighty as it might feel.

i’d encourage you to take note of your “i don’t feel like it” moments, too. are there things or situations worth pressing into? i truly believe that you may never know why you’re put in certain places – queue all the internal questioning i’ve done lately in my current self-care journey of selling shampoo while clinging to the original “plan” of being a musician – but you guarantee that you’ll never find out if you can’t even push through and show up. the people you could meet, the lessons you could learn, the beautiful accidents you leave space for… the list goes on – and it’s all hinging on whether or not you can get over yourself and lean in.

♥,
SF