Maybe it’s time we redefine what success, stability, and strength really mean.

We’re taught a lot about what it means to be successful. To be stable. To be strong. But what if much of what we’ve been told… just doesn’t hold up in real life?

Through my own healing, I’ve had to unlearn the cultural definitions of strength and success: the ones that reward performance over presence, and pressure us to keep it all together, no matter the cost.

So if you’re tired of holding it all together, if you’re craving something more meaningful than the constant chase for “stability”, you’re not alone. And you’re not broken.

This is where we begin: by questioning the old definitions and by giving ourselves permission to redefine strength, success, and stability, starting from the inside out.

For that, we have to begin with something foundational: our health. Whether we pay attention to it or not, it matters. Deeply. In fact, the moments we don’t think about our health usually mean it’s intact. It’s only when we begin to lose it, physically, emotionally, mentally, that we realize just how essential it is. Without it, even the simplest parts of life can feel out of reach.

We live in a culture that often rewards disconnection from those parts of ourselves. We’re taught to value control over uncertainty, logic over feeling, and stoicism over vulnerability. Strength, in this framework, looks like “holding it together” no matter what.

And yet, what if we’ve been measuring strength all wrong? True strength, I believe, is facing our own emotions with compassion. It’s being honest about our needs, our fears, and our wounds. It’s having the courage to feel, to grieve, to rage, to hope, and to keep going anyway.

The same goes for how we define success and stability. For so long, we’ve been handed formulas: Work hard. Make money. Accumulate. Achieve. Stay safe. But is that really all there is?

What if success meant something deeper, like waking up with a sense of meaning, or being fully present with the people we love? What if stability wasn’t just about a steady paycheck or a roof over our heads, but about emotional safety, self-trust, and knowing we can handle whatever life throws our way?

Maybe it’s time we each re-examine what these words: strength, success, stability really mean to us. Because life can be so much more, and it starts with honest conversations. With ourselves. And with each other. 💜