🌺 Believing Yourself First: A Return to the Oldest Wisdom You Have

Before the world taught you to doubt yourself,
before people gaslit you into second-guessing your own heartbeat,
you knew.

You knew what you felt.
You knew what was wrong.
You knew when something was not safe, not loving, not true.

Believing yourself is not something new you must learn —
it’s something ancient you are remembering.

💔 Why We Were Taught to Doubt Ourselves

• We were taught to be “nice” instead of honest.

• We were taught to prioritize politeness over protection.

• We were taught that being believed was a privilege, not a right.

• We were taught to silence ourselves to keep systems running smoothly.

And so many of us — women, Black women, girls, Survivors —
learned to abandon our own knowing to stay “safe” or “good.”

But the cost was too high.
The price was us.

🌿 Believing Yourself First Is an Act of Reclamation

Every time you trust what your spirit tells you:
you are reclaiming yourself.
you are protecting your future.
you are honoring the prayers of the women who came before you.

You don’t have to:

• Wait for someone else to validate your feelings.

• Wait for permission to act on your instincts.

• Wait for the world to “get it” before you honor your own soul.

You are the authority on your experience.
Your spirit knows.
It always did.

🧡 What Believing Yourself First Sounds Like

• “I felt it. I don’t need outside approval to trust myself.”

• “If it felt wrong to me, that’s enough.”

• “I will not gaslight myself to make others comfortable.”

• “My spirit is my first and final authority.”

• “I choose me — even when no one else does.”

✨ Benediction for the Journey: On Believing Yourself First

May the voice inside you rise louder than the noise of doubt.
May you hear your spirit clearly — even through fear, even through fog.
May you trust that what you know deep down is not up for debate.
And may you move through this life with the quiet, unshakable power of a woman who believes herself first, last, and always.