YOU ARE * LOVE They say life is 10% what happens to us and 9..

YOU ARE * LOVE They say life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we respond. I used to hear that and nod absentmindedl “duh, of course.” But my days told a different story.

I was a squirrel.
Running from place to place.
Nipping at snacks.
Darting from stimulation to distraction.
Playing with myself mentally, emotionally, physically—whenever I could sneak in the time.
And I wasn’t really living—I was reacting.

Then one day, in the midst of my usual busy blur, something inside me paused. Not for long. Just enough to whisper:
“Sooo… maybe go inward…?”

I did.

And the onward.

What I found inside wasn’t all peace and quiet. It was noisy. Anxious. Self-doubting. There were stories in there, running loops. Old ones. Telling me I wasn’t doing enough, wasn’t being enough. That I had to keep running to be safe.

But the beautiful thing about pausing is: you start to notice.
And noticing is power.

I began noticing my imbalance early before it turned into burnout.
I noticed my anxiety creeping in and gave it breath instead of suppression.
I watched how my habits fed the stories I didn’t want to live anymore.

And slowly, I started doing the most loving thing I could do for myself:
I changed.

Small changes. Small pleasures.

I shifted my sleep schedule so my mind could rest.
I chose movement that brought joy, not punishment.
I made space for silence.
I took care of my skin, my body, my breath not because it was a routine, but because it was me loving me.

And this? This is the real pleasure.
Learning how to be with myself.
Trusting my rhythms.
Tuning into my own harmony.

So yes, I love to pleasure myself deeply, fully, intentionally.
Not in fleeting ways, but in ways that restore me.

Life still happens.
But now I respond 90% strong, 90% present, 90% me.

And I’d take that over squirrel-scurrying any day.