The love of your life does not make you feel unsafe.
The love of your life does not abandon accountability.
The love of your life does not force you to shrink, ache, or “recover from them.”
The love of your life supports your wellness.
He nourishes your nervous system.
He protects the tenderness of your spirit.
He elevates your health, not harms it.
He makes you feel chosen, secure, steady…
He shows up.
Love,
Wendy
We can’t stop others from their own interpretation, but we never internalize their experience of who we are.
Their inaccuracies and limited understanding and beliefs of themselves project onto what they believe and what they think they observe.
Most importantly, it is their own lack of self worth and lived experiences, combined with fear of uncertainty that confines them to live with an illusion of “control and certainty.”
They cling to narratives that offer them comfort, even if those narratives are distorted born from their own insecurities and fears.
These are merely reflections of their own inner world, not the heart and soul of who we are.
Love and blessings,
Wendy
I don’t need anyone else’s interpretation of what I see…
My eyes are wide open.
My intuition is always so clear it pierces my gut…
and my discernment is my power.
Love and blessings,
Wendy
Some weaponize hierarchy instead of appreciating heart.
They need to project authority to feel stable.
Any action they don’t control feels like a personal affront.
They become territorial…
This is their storyline… but not mine.
Even after being blindsided, I remain in alignment.
I will always choose to do the right thing.
I will always lead with a pure heart, a strong spine, and a fierce commitment to all I know to be right, to be true, and to be courageous, unwavering, and unapologetically myself.
Walking the talk and following spiritual guidance.
As I write in my book, Write Pray Recover: A Journey to Wellness Through Spiritual Solutions and Self Care:
“Steve once said to me, ‘Like baseball… wait for your pitch.’
He was saying: just observe and listen, and wait for the opportunity to present itself before you respond—calmly, with logic, and without emotion.
Use the wise mind. The wise mind uses rationale, logic, and facts, while the emotional mind responds only based on the emotion we are feeling.”
Mantra: Spiritual leaders collaborate.
Love and blessings,
Wendy
David is a reminder of what sincerity feels like, what emotional safety feels like, what presence feels like.
He senses when my heart needs gentleness.
He steps in with steadiness, warmth, and genuine care.
And vice versa…
A phone call isn’t casual for us.
It’s presence.
It’s connection.
It’s our way of saying to each other, without saying:
“I’m here. I’ve got you. You’re not alone.”
It just “is…” between us.
A beautiful and blessed years long connection…or as we say…
“Soulmates.”
Love and blessings,
Wendy
Today’s world is crowded with people who choose their ego over empathy…creating nothing but counterfeit connections, and then wonder why they’re standing in their own shadow.
You may shine too brightly for others.
Tell them to put on their sunglasses,
Or let them bask in their own shade.
Love and blessings,
Wendy
“Nice” feels performative to me.
Where kindness, empathy, curiosity, and love are present, I recognize truth.
I can feel the honesty in my soul…
I can see the love in one’s eyes…
And I can spot the performance in the pause behind the smile.
Step off the stage…both feet on the ground…no fanfare.
Love and blessings,
Wendy
Read between the lines…
Listen to what is NOT being said.
Observe the spaces where truth hides, and the feeling beneath the tone…
In other words…”see” what is “unseen” and honor the obvious truth.
It is in the dark, and it is in the silence that the truth emerges…
and where intuition whispers the warning our heart already knows.
Love and blessings,
Wendy
Sometimes life flashes a “red light”, not to stop us…but to remind us to stand in our power and to strictly enforce our boundaries.
Never, ever mistake my kindness for a lack of personal boundaries…
Stepping over the line and into my personal space…uninvited…will show you the door where there is NO reentry.
Namaste…
Love and blessings,
Wendy
Yesterday, a dear friend and I were talking about the Theodore Roosevelt “The Man In The Arena” quote in conjunction with Brené Brown’s “Daring Greatly“ quote based on “The Man In The Arena”.
He asked me if I’d like to know what he thought about my being “In The Arena”, which had never occurred to me at all. A few hours later…he wrote it down…(Yes, he too, is a writer.)
He blew me away with this response. I sobbed. I processed. I reflected…
Sometimes, we don’t see ourselves as others do, and when someone on the outside hands us the gift of a mirror…we may finally “see” the reflection…and begin to believe in ourselves again…
“There is a certain kind of courage that doesn’t roar-it simply keeps showing up.
It walks into classrooms when pain is loud and patience is thin. It sits at the doctor’s office asking hard questions about what is best for the body it has learned to honor rather than battle. It writes words of healing into books that reach others who are still trying to believe they are not broken.
That courage belongs to those in the arena-faces marred by dust and tears, hearts tender but unyielding.
Brené Brown reminds us that it’s not the critic who counts. It’s the one who steps forward again and again, daring greatly in the small, holy moments of everyday life.
You, Wendy, live this truth.
You have dared greatly by reclaiming your life from addiction, by walking away from what no longer served your peace, and by staying open to love even after heartbreak. You continue to rise-not perfectly, but bravely.
The arena is where healing happens. It’s where faith is tested, integrity is refined, and purpose is reborn. And while the cheap seats may always hum with opinions, you know better now-that the only voices that matter are the ones that speak love, truth, and divine guidance.”
You are in the arena.
And you are daring greatly.”
He wrote further…
You are the woman in the arena-not just surviving, but living truthfully, even when it costs you comfort. You keep showing up with your heart open, your faith intact, and your light still burning, no matter how many times life has tried to dim it. That’s not only brave-it’s sacred.
Your journey-recovery, teaching, self-advocacy, forgiveness, love-is the living embodiment of what Brené meant by “daring greatly.” You’ve faced pain and uncertainty without losing compassion. You’ve turned suffering into service, and fear into devotion.
So, yes, Wendy. That’s what I see in you every day:
A woman who keeps getting back up.
A heart that loves anyway.
A soul that refuses to abandon itself.”
So, moving forward…
I honor my courage to keep showing up. I honor my boundaries. I trust my intuition. I am present. I am safe…
And I will remain in the arena, daring greatly, for myself and for those around me who need a reminder that gentle strength and an open heart can change everything.
I trust that my scars tell the story of a woman who chose love over fear, faith over doubt, and presence over perfection.
I am “in the arena” and “daring greatly”, simply by being true to myself. I’ve learned that true strength is not about appearing unbreakable, but about standing in truth and love while still feeling everything.
Thank you to my dearest earth Angel for this beautiful gift.
Love and blessings,
Wendy
This is the original quote that inspired Brené Brown’s quote, from Theodore Roosevelt’s 1910 speech “Citizenship in a Republic,” often called “The Man in the Arena” passage:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;
who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming;
but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions;
who spends himself in a worthy cause;
who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement,
and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly,
so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
Daring Greatly, inspired by Roosevelt’s words:
“If you’re not in the arena getting your ass kicked, I’m not interested in your feedback. There are a million cheap seats in the world today filled with people who will never once step foot in that arena. They will never once dare greatly, but they’ll make it their life’s work to hurl criticism and judgment at those of us who do.”
— Brené Brown, Daring Greatly
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