Hey fellow soul,

Let’s get real for a second.

Living your life for yourself (living life authentically, by your own terms, and in your own energy) is painful. Not all the time, because true authentic living brings with it a ridiculous amount of joy and freedom. But it also brings pain.

You are going to lose people. Some relationships are going to end – sometimes because you end them, and sometimes because they do so without you wanting them to. People are going to criticize you – from the shadows, and vocally in your face while the sun is shining. You will lose some opportunities, and some doors you want to walk thru will close on you. And while you will find your soul tribe this way (you only find your soul tribe this way) – the people who really nourish, nurture and enliven you – you will also feel alone at times. Cause it ain’t crowded on the authenticity edge. There’s lots of space.

And it hurts.
All of this hurts.

It is part of the process, and no one who decides to truly partake in this journey of true living escapes it. Living true to yourself is a rugged path, and the ruggedness keeps coming up, every year, every week.

But let’s get real again, one more time: Even with all the pain, it’s soooo worth it.

The return on this investment is exponentially greater than what you put down. The joy of it is real, and palpable, and life-changing, and healing. The sexiness that comes is unequaled. And the liberation and freedom is unmatched, anywhere. Nowhere else compares to living in yourself, as yourself. Nothing else is as worth it. Nothing. Nowhere.

It’s worth the pain.
And honestly, there’s more pain if you don’t.

Never choosing to express your true self, to say what you really mean, to live how you’ve always dreamed, to no longer suppress or edit yourself, leads to disease and an early death. Because unexpressed authentic energy metastasizes in the body. It also leads to fake relationships, unfulfilling work, and tons and tons of regrets. An authentic life is painful, yes. But an unexpressed, inauthentic one fucking sucks.

And when you finally come to the moment where you face your death at the end of your life, you will regret with every cell of your body that you never took the chance to live your real life. That the path your soul called you to journey you never answered, never stepped on.

I know. I’ve been there. On my deathbed, with seemingly hours left to live, totally regretting the choice I made to not risk it all and just be me, and live like I really wanted to, all over the place.

I was lucky enough to get a second chance. But but most of us aren’t. Most of us just get this one, delicious, blessed opportunity to live true.

Being the real you is worth it.
Living true is worth it.
Pain is part of the journey of that.

And it’s worth it.

EVERY.
TIME.
IT’S.
TOTALLY.
WORTH.
IT.

This, I can authentically promise.

❤️, Jerome