Well, hello there. It's Morgan Harper-Nichols here. I'm recording this from my phone, and if you've been listening this week, you may already know that I'm taking a short break from recording new episodes, but I will be back later this month. I hope that today's episode meets you right where you are. Thank you so much for tuning in.

There are so many reasons why you might be tempted to discredit yourself, but just know,

it is not too late to rise above those reasons. It's not too late to

look in the mirror, make eye contact with yourself, and realize that you are only seeing one layer

of so many. The way we see ourselves can be incredibly limiting, and that's where trust comes in.

We must learn to trust that even though we cannot see the many complex and colorful inner layers

of ourselves, those colors are there. Just because we cannot see how things come together

within us or around us, that doesn't mean that there are no rhythms and reasons for things.

It takes the ability to trust in order to not discredit yourself.

It is all too easy to forget or never even notice how far you have come.

You have been through so much. You have known what it means to go on the

long journey called recovery. You have endured the feelings of discouragement because you were made to

feel that your healing wasn't fast enough. You have listened to advice that was meant to be encouraging

or empowering, but somehow it managed to make you feel worse. You have listened to advice that was meant to be encouraging or empowering, but somehow it managed to make you feel worse.

You have waited for people to understand.

You have prayed and you have tried to be a better person, hoping that you would wake up the next day and things will be better.

So much has happened in your life, great and small, that you might not even have

the language for. And all by grace, you're still here. This matters. You live in a world

where you may have been made to feel like your progress doesn't matter because you haven't

done something yet. It hurts to hear that. It hurts to feel that.

And this is also true. Your journey has not been in vain. You may go day after day feeling the same.

But that doesn't mean that you have not changed. That does not mean that you have not grown in the way you were meant to.

...