Your anxiety is the cost you have to bear every time you get out there and take a chance on someone. Not everyone is worth this cost. — I used to have severe anxiety when it came to dating. Meeting new people, waiting for text messages, confirming plans, not knowing where the relationship is going could hurt me physically. Dating wasn’t fun. Dating was a constant battle of fighting all my ugly thoughts about myself, all my doubts…

It helps explain who I am, but I’m not defined by it. — Uprooting my life at 17 has posed countless challenges, but one of the best things it has done for me was to force me to ask myself: “Who am I?” Throughout my early twenties, I struggled with that question as I was away from my communities and alone in a completely different environment…

Wanting to be better and having goals is natural. But it never defines you. — I know you have goals for last year and this year, but please know that the most important thing you need to be is healthy and happy — or simply, here. No matter what you want to achieve, you need to know that you’re enough. You do not need to…

An eventful year with lots of lessons learned — 2022 has been an eventful year for me in the best ways possible. I freelanced writing full-time, I ran a dating course and had paid coaching clients, I had a new corporate job, I got married, and I became a British citizen. …

I no longer identify with the girl I was but I had so much empathy for her. — I’ve been with my husband for three years and married for half a year. Before meeting my husband, I’d never had a serious relationship. None of my past relationships lasted longer than eight months, and the eight-month relationship happened when I was a teenager. It doesn’t matter anymore, but back…

2022 has definitely been the best year of my life. So what’s next? — In 2019, I turned my life around. Since then, I’ve been increasingly stable and happy. 2020 was still a bit rough. I was on a work visa. My job sucked. My anxiety crept up on me now and again. Lockdowns happened. …

I didn’t level up to be worthy of love. — Once upon a time, I thought if I could become less emotional, have a cooler job, make more money and lose a few pounds, I’d finally be loved. To the younger me, the point of levelling up was about becoming worthy of love. When a guy liked me and stopped…

“You’re always with me.” — My husband is very attentive. He meets my needs across all love languages, and I feel very happy and fulfilled in our relationship every day. In return, I’ve become excellent at making him happy. …