Staying Rooted When It Would Be Easier to Drift

I’ve been thinking about how easy it is sometimes to lose your footing when life gets clouded by outside noise. Comparison and expectations have a way of slowly sneaking in. You start looking around instead of forward, and before you know it, you feel disconnected and far from yourself.

Staying rooted is a practice in staying in touch with what is true for you — your values, your limits, your direction. It’s learning and choosing to listen inward instead of letting everything around you decide where your energy goes.

There will always be moments when your pace slows, when your progress feels unclear, or when your path looks different from what you imagined. It can be easy in these moments to believe that you’re failing or falling behind, but it’s important to keep perspective.

Focusing on your own race is typically more subtle than people make it sound. It often looks like doing small, ordinary things with greater intention. Showing up when you can, resting when you need to, adjusting when life changes, and most importantly, continuing even when you don’t have certainty.

You don’t have to rush to keep up with anyone. There’s no need to explain or defend your pace, and you certainly don’t have to prove that your path is valid in order to keep walking it. Your job is to stay connected to yourself and keep moving in the direction that feels honest, authentic, and true to you.

It doesn’t have to be a perfect path forward. You just have to keep moving.