17/06/2026
The labels we attach to ourselves..
“I am anxious”
“I am an empath”
“I am a people pleaser”
“I am broken”
“I am too much”
Some of these are labels we carry with pain.
Others are identities we wear with pride — a mother, a father, a healer, the strong one, the one everyone relies on.
The roles and identities that can bring us meaning, purpose, and understanding, but were never meant to become the whole story of who we are.
We are so quick to collect words that explain our experiences and place them into the story of who we are. And sometimes, that can be incredibly healing.
Sometimes a word, a diagnosis, a personality trait, or an experience can make us pause and think..
“Oh… I make sense now”
There is so much power in understanding yourself.
But there is a difference between understanding yourself and allowing a label to become the limit of who you believe you can be.
We often think of labels as the things we’re trying to move away from. But sometimes, the ones we hold onto the tightest are the ones we are most proud of.
For a long time, I identified as an empath.
Until I started to ask myself what that truly meant.
Was I compassionate and deeply able to connect with others? Or had I unknowingly given myself permission to carry emotions and responsibilities that were never mine to hold?
That shift changed everything.
I can have compassion for your pain. I can sit with you in your struggle. I can support you and walk beside you. But I cannot carry what is yours to carry.
I think sometimes we become so attached to understanding ourselves that we forget we’re still allowed to change.
The funny thing about being human is we can be one thing in one season of our life and something completely different in the next.
So maybe the question isn’t:
“Who have I told myself I am?”
Maybe it’s:
“Who am I still becoming?”
❤️
