There is a tenderness required to look back without judgment.
To see every step—misstep, pause, detour, and breakthrough—and recognize it not as failure, but as formation.
Your journey is not something to rush through or explain away.
It is something to honor.
Before you reach for what’s next, there is wisdom in pausing long enough to acknowledge how far you’ve come. Not with pride. Not with regret. But with reverence.
Words of Light
“I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” — Psalm 139:14
“Define yourself for yourself, or be crushed into other people’s fantasies of you.” — Audre Lorde
Reflection
Honoring your journey means releasing the urge to minimize your story.
So many of us have been taught to hurry past our growth—to focus on what’s still missing rather than what has already been endured, healed, and transformed. But your life is not a series of errors to be corrected. It is a living testimony of resilience, becoming, and grace.
Every chapter has shaped your discernment.
Every season has refined your voice.
Every ending has prepared you for deeper alignment.
To honor your journey is to stand in your truth without apology—to recognize that you are allowed to change, to evolve, and to claim who you are now without explaining who you used to be.
This is not about perfection.
It is about presence.
And honoring the sacred unfolding of your life.
Pause and Consider
What parts of your journey have you overlooked or dismissed too quickly?
Where have you grown stronger, wiser, or more discerning—even through difficulty?
What would it look like to honor your past without being bound to it?
Let these reflections soften you, not harden you. There is wisdom here.
Affirmation
I honor my journey in its entirety.
I claim my growth, my truth, and the beauty of who I am becoming.
Peace,
Rita
Rita Lynn Berry, EdS, LCMHC, is a licensed clinical mental health counselor and the founder of NewVision Counseling and Consulting Services, PLLC. She is also the creator of the Journey to Me™ program and Mend n Muse Media™, where she shares tools and reflections that support healing, resilience, and self-love.