I leave this with you for this weekend

I leave this with you for this weekend -

Smoke and Mirrors

Life is smoke and mirrors.

Have you ever noticed that when you’re walking through the gutter—when life has stretched you to the thinnest threads of your own strength—you somehow attract people carrying the exact same wounds you are trying to survive?

They find you.

And suddenly, you become fluent in hope.

You know exactly what to say. You offer perspective, encouragement, grace. You remind them that this season will pass, that they are stronger than they feel, that they are worthy of rest, love, and another chance to begin again.

And somehow, your words help them rise.

But wait a minute.

You’re going through the same bloody thing.

So why is it easier to believe in their healing than your own?

Why are you so convincing when speaking life into another person, yet so hesitant to offer that same compassion to the one staring back at you in the mirror?

Smoke and mirrors.

Perhaps life isn’t punishing you. Perhaps it is reflecting you.

Every encounter, every conversation, every person you feel called to rescue may be revealing exactly what your own soul is begging you to hear.

The wisdom pouring out of you was never meant to stop at someone else’s doorstep.

It was meant to make its way home.

So maybe the next time you tell someone, “Be gentle with yourself,” pause long enough to ask if you’ve been gentle with you.

The next time you whisper, “You are going to be okay,” let your own heart hear it too.

Because the mirror has been waiting patiently.

Not to expose your flaws,

but to remind you that the love, understanding, and grace you so freely extend to others were never things you lacked.

They were always yours.

To the reader: The advice you keep giving away may be the medicine your own heart has been waiting to receive.

— Nekesha Burrell

To my SSA Family. Please be as gentle with yourself as you are with a stranger - as patient as you are with a child and as caring as you are with everyone else - BUT you ❤️💙 have. A great weekend.

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I leave this with you for this weekend -