New Year, True You: Embracing Authenticity and Your True Calling in 2025

This past year taught me lessons I didn’t even know I needed to learn. Some of them came in ways that completely caught me off guard—through the words and actions of people closest to me.

Sometimes, it’s those we hold dearest who judge us the hardest or say things that cut the deepest. It’s easy in those moments to feel hurt and misunderstood.

But instead of letting that consume me, I chose to take a step back. I pondered those experiences, reflected on them, and began to see the greater truth they held. I asked myself hard questions, looked inward, and refocused on who God is calling me to be.🙏

What I discovered was that I had been holding onto the weight of past criticisms, allowing them to keep me from fully stepping into who I truly am.

At 47 years old, I realized I had never fully given myself permission to be me.

I was still bound by old interpretations of my gifts, my direction, and even how I should live my life.

For years, I thought I had outgrown the need for outside validation. I convinced myself I had moved past the pull of people-pleasing.

But this past year shined a light on a hidden truth:

💡I was still hiding behind the mask of who I thought I needed to be, instead of having the courage to show up unapologetically unfiltered.

I realized I’d spent too much time trying to fit into the expectations of others—sometimes to gain their approval, sometimes to avoid their disappointment. In doing so, I was carrying their version of me instead of embracing the version God made me to be.

Admitting that to myself was hard, and admitting it to others is even harder. Vulnerability isn’t easy— it opens you up to more judgment—but it’s also healing. It creates connection and often helps others make sense of their own struggles.❤️‍🩹

We all come into this world as perfect beings, carrying all the gifts, dreams, and possibilities we’ll ever need.

But as we grow, the world begins to shape us. We’re taught to fit into a box, to trade authenticity for approval, and to dim our unique light to make others feel comfortable.

Instead of stepping fully into the person God created us to be, we become echoes of what the world says we should be—robotic duplications of those who came before us or those we measure ourselves against.🤖

Trying to be everything for everyone doesn’t just exhaust us—it suffocates the gifts and calling God placed inside us.

This past year, God reminded me of a truth I had forgotten:

✨I was created whole, already enough, and equipped with everything I need to fulfill the purpose He placed in me.

But I had been running wide open—in circles—and couldn’t connect the dots. So, I pressed the pause button. I took a step back, leaned into my authenticity, and something amazing happened: the dots started connecting automatically.

I came across a quote recently that resonated deeply:

“Everybody loves a particular version of you, and when that person is gone, that version goes with them.”

That struck me because it’s so true. People—often without meaning to—hold onto their idea of who you should be.

But growth isn’t about staying in the mold someone else designed for you. It’s about breaking free and becoming who God created you to be, even if that doesn’t align with someone else’s vision for your life.💪🏼

And here’s the beauty of it:

When you allow yourself to step fully into who God created you to be, you can be there for the people who clung to that outdated version of you in a greater way.🤲🏼

By living in your truth, you show them what’s possible. You inspire them to do the same.🌟

Growth is a choice.

It doesn’t happen automatically with time or because the calendar changes. It happens when we make the deliberate decision to see the lessons in the hard moments and let those lessons shape us.

It happens when we stop measuring ourselves by others’ standards and fully embrace the person God is calling us to become.☀️

I want to encourage you to reflect.

Are you still seeking approval from others?

Are you holding onto the need to be understood?

If so, let this be the year you release it.

⭐️Let this year be the year you step into your authenticity.

⭐️Let this year be the year you lean into your calling.

⭐️Let this be the year you rediscover the gifts, dreams, and possibilities you were born with.

⭐️Let this be the year you lean fully into God’s love and let Him define your worth.

⭐️Let this be the year you break free of the manmade, societal mold and soar to new heights on the wings of faith that God made especially for you.

This world doesn’t need a watered-down, cookie-cutter version of you.

The world is waiting for the real you—the person God called and created you to be.

Because there are people stumbling alone in the darkness, and God has chosen YOU to light their way home.