You're Going to Be Just Fine. Now, Let's Figure This Out.
Your life doesn't come with a guidebook. But you do have the power to write your own.
First things first. I want you to know that where you are right now is exactly where you're supposed to be.
And before you roll your eyes, there's something you should know about me: I hate clichés. So, when I tell you that you're exactly where you're supposed to be, I'm not suggesting that everything happens for a reason or that you should sit around waiting for the universe to magically figure things out for you.
What I'm saying is that wherever you are today, we can start right here.
Maybe you're feeling uncertain. Maybe you're questioning your career, your relationships, or the direction your life is heading. Maybe you've done everything you thought you were supposed to do, but somehow your life looks nothing like the one you imagined.
And maybe you're wondering, What the heck am I supposed to do now?
Well, welcome to Bloom Haus. Pull up a chair. We have some things to talk about.
First, Let Me Tell You Something About Me.
I remember graduating from college and feeling completely unprepared for life.
Seriously. Did I miss a class? Was there some secret life course everybody took that I somehow skipped? Because I was out here with a degree and absolutely no idea what I was supposed to do next.
I was frustrated. I was angry. I was anxious. In fact, I experienced my first panic attack during that period of my life. And well, just YIKES!
It wasn't that I didn't have ambitions or dreams. I just didn't know how to connect where I was with where I wanted to be.
And I couldn't shake the feeling that I had missed something important.
But here's what I eventually realized: I couldn't go back and reclaim those four years. I couldn't undo every decision or change every piece of advice I'd followed.
And honestly, I wouldn't necessarily want to. Because even the decisions I questioned taught me something.
What I could do was decide what happened next.
God willing, I had my entire life ahead of me. And one thing I knew for certain was that I wanted that life to feel like my own.
That realization changed everything.
You're Having a Reckoning With Yourself. And That's a Good Thing.
Here's what I want you to understand.
That uncomfortable feeling you're experiencing might actually be telling you something important.
Maybe you're beginning to recognize that you want more for yourself. Maybe you're realizing that the life you've been working toward isn't necessarily the life you want to live.
Perhaps, for the first time, you're asking yourself what *you* actually want.
And that's a question worth exploring.
For me, I discovered early on that I needed to feel a sense of purpose. I needed to believe that my life had meaning beyond simply going to work, paying bills, and checking off the boxes society told me were important.
I wanted to understand why God put me here. What was I supposed to contribute? What kind of life would genuinely fulfill me?
I didn't have those answers. And quite frankly, I had spent a lot of time listening to other people's answers.
Sound familiar?
Here's where things get interesting.
It's Time to Get in the Driver's Seat.
Let me tell you something that I wish someone had told me much earlier.
This is your life.
Not your mother's. Not your father's. Not your grandmother's. Not your professor's. Not even that well-meaning person who insists they know exactly what you should be doing.
We love them. We respect them. And hopefully, we can continue learning from them.
But at some point, your own voice has to become the loudest voice in your life.
And that requires building a relationship with yourself.
A real relationship.
One where you listen to yourself, trust yourself, challenge yourself, and hold yourself accountable.
One where you become your own best friend.
Most importantly, one where you make a commitment that I want you to establish today:
I will not quit on myself.
You're going to have difficult days. You're going to get frustrated. You're going to question your decisions. You might even change your mind a hundred times.
That's okay.
But we're establishing something right now. You are responsible for showing up for yourself, even when you haven't figured everything out.
And no, that doesn't mean you have to do everything alone. Support, mentorship, community, and guidance are important.
It simply means that you get to hold the pen.
And speaking of pens...
Your First Assignment: Get Yourself a Journal.
Yes. An actual journal.
Not just random notes scattered across your phone or seventeen notebooks you can't find.
I want you to invest in one dedicated journal that will become your **Bloom Journey Journal.**
Why?
Because you're about to begin a process of designing, editing, and refining your life.
And let me tell you, this process can get messy.
When I started journaling, I would write something down, add notes underneath it, turn the page, and write practically the same thing all over again.
Sometimes I'd revisit an idea weeks or months later.
But something interesting started happening.
My thoughts became clearer. I started recognizing patterns. I began understanding what I genuinely wanted versus what I thought I was supposed to want.
Little by little, I started connecting the dots.
And that's what I want for you.
Your journal isn't supposed to be a beautiful collection of perfectly organized thoughts. It's your personal workspace.
It's where you get to be confused, ambitious, frustrated, excited, uncertain, and completely honest.
It's where you get to say something that might feel uncomfortable to admit out loud:
I don't know.
And guess what? That's a perfectly acceptable answer.
In fact, sometimes admitting that you don't know is exactly what frees you to start figuring things out.
The Art of Refining Your Life
Here's how I want you to approach this process.
Start by identifying what you're feeling.
Are you frustrated with your career? Unhappy with your current circumstances? Feeling disconnected from yourself? Are you pursuing goals that don't actually excite you?
Write it down.
Don't worry about sounding positive. Don't worry about being grateful enough. Don't judge yourself for having uncomfortable feelings.
Just tell yourself the truth.
Then begin exploring what you want.
Ask yourself:
What do I want my life to look and feel like?
Before anyone told me who I should become, who did I want to be?
What would make my life feel meaningful and fulfilling?
What am I currently doing because I genuinely want to, and what am I doing because someone else expects it?
You don't have to answer every question today.
In fact, I don't expect you to.
This is an ongoing conversation you're developing with yourself.
And as you begin discovering what you want, you'll eventually move into the next phase: figuring out how to make it happen.
That's where the planning begins.
## Big Dreams. Small Starting Points.
Let me give you a real example.
When I first envisioned Bloom Haus, I imagined this enormous company. I could see the community, the experiences, the resources, and everything I wanted it to become.
There was just one little problem.
I didn't have the money or resources to build everything I envisioned.
Yikes.
And for a while, the size of my vision overwhelmed me.
But eventually, I had to ask myself a different question.
Instead of asking, *How am I going to build this entire company?*
I started asking, *What can I do right now with what I already have?*
Well, I can write.
I can share my experiences. I can develop resources. I can start building a community and creating content.
I don't need an enormous budget or a team of twenty people to begin doing those things.
And that's the beauty of the refinement process.
You take your big idea, explore it, challenge it, and keep refining it until you identify a realistic starting point.
Then you begin.
Will you eventually need additional resources? Probably. Will you need help along the way? Quite possibly.
But you don't have to solve every future problem before taking your first step.
Your starting point should feel manageable enough that you're willing to act, even if the bigger dream still feels intimidating.
And that's how we move from simply dreaming about our lives to intentionally designing them.
Before You Go, Let's Make a Commitment.
I don't want you leaving this post feeling like you have another enormous assignment to complete.
Actually, I want you to do the opposite.
Take a couple of deep breaths.
Give yourself permission to stop trying to figure out your entire life today.
Get your journal, find a quiet space, and begin with one honest statement:
Right now, I'm feeling...
That's it.
You might write one sentence. You might write five pages. You might find yourself writing the same thing repeatedly for the next six months.
Let the process unfold.
And when you're ready, begin exploring what you want your life to look like.
We're going to work on identifying the gaps, developing your plan, and figuring out your next steps together.
But today, your only responsibility is to make a commitment to yourself.
A commitment to listen to your own voice.
A commitment to create space for your own growth.
And a commitment that no matter how messy this journey gets, you will not quit on yourself.
If I could go back and tell my younger self one thing, it would be this: Cheryl, you're going to be just fine.
You're going to figure things out. You're going to learn some lessons. You're going to make mistakes. Some guy is going to you he’s in love with someone else (true story), and you’ll call him back. You’re going to change your mind. And somewhere along the way, you're going to discover what it means to build a life that genuinely feels like your own.
And that's exactly what I want for you.
So welcome to Bloom Haus.
Your life is the bloom. Treat it as such.
With love,
Cheryl
P.S. I'd love to hear from you. What are you currently trying to figure out? Leave a comment or send me an email. This is a community, and we're navigating this thing called life together. I'll be checking in with you soon.
