Welcome to the Black Girl Burnout podcast, Kelly here,

and we are closing out our week on opting into love.

If you've liked this series so far, let me know.

It means everything to hear your messages. Can I just

start off by saying that? Part of the reason why I can say, like I said earlier this week,

that I like myself. No, no, I love myself. It's because I also feel loved by so many people. When I read your reviews on Apple podcast, can I tell you

the joy it brings to me? When you all say hello on Instagram, I always respond. It is me

answering every DM. People will tell you, I say hello. I'm always out here. I respond to all your comments. It makes me feel great. I feel loved. I have great people in my life that remind me that I'm loved. I am very fortunate to have parents that I've never questioned their love for me.

I'm a pretty fortunate person.

And yet, as I record this episode, I will tell you, I have had one of the hardest weeks in a long time.

And honestly, in the last maybe 90 days, some of the hardest moments,

I wouldn't say it's the hardest moments in my life. I've had tougher, but it has been,

I just have felt exhausted and depleted. And I pretty much made myself create the series because I needed it. I needed to be reminded

that yes, love is around. Love is expansive. Self love is possible. Girl throw out that

checklist. Start with love. Be hopeful. Don't let yourself image get in the way. There is more and

more and still more. What I love about this podcast is that I am on the journey the same way you all are.

I haven't arrived. The opt out isn't a destination. As a reminder again. It's a way of life. It's a

discipline. It's a mindset that you put yourself in. And so today I want to talk about how to

return to love when things feel hard. This week, that's what I reminded myself of. I had a moment where I was just like, what am I doing?

Like literally, what am I doing right now? And love was not hanging out in my brain. And then I had to remind myself, just like I talked about returning to softness, I need to make the call to

myself to return to love and to remind you all to return to love. And maybe you need this episode

because you've just had a heartbreak. And heartbreak comes in many different forms. Maybe you've

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