A couple of days ago, I felt led to share something personal.

As some of you may know, over the last 18 months, I have been working my way back to health. Thankfully, I am getting stronger. My stamina is increasing. I am slowly beginning to feel more like myself again, and for that, I am deeply grateful.

During one of my recent workouts, I was inspired to record and share a short video. The video was not meant to impress anyone. Honestly, it was simply a moment of gratitude. A moment where I realized how thankful I was to even be moving my body again, to feel my strength returning, and to recognize that healing was taking place little by little. ( Click here for the video)

What many people may not realize, however, is that sharing that video required vulnerability. During my wellness journey, I have lost a significant amount of weight. I have also experienced hair loss; my skin was sullen and felt droopy. Honestly, there have been moments where I have felt extremely self-conscious and reluctant to show myself publicly while trying to navigate those changes privately.

If you have ever been sick or know someone navigating illness, you know that long-term illnesses change more than your physical health. It can affect your confidence, your identity, your comfort in your own body, and even your willingness to be seen.

But that day, I felt led to share anyway.

And what happened afterward was both surprising and deeply revealing.

Three different people responded to the exact same video in three very different ways.

The first response stung a little. Someone told me I was “showing off.”

Perhaps it stung more because it came from someone who was familiar with my journey, someone who knew many of the challenges, limitations, fears, and side effects I had been navigating behind the scenes.

Then two other people responded very differently.

One person told me, “You are showing up for yourself.”

Another person said, “You are showing people the way.”

And I sat there for a moment thinking about how fascinating that really was.

Three people viewed the exact same moment through three completely different lenses.

One saw arrogance.
One saw healing.
One saw leadership.

That experience reminded me of  3 important points. ( Click here to listen on YouTube.)

• How people interpret us often has very little to do with us and a great deal to do with their own experiences, insecurities, wounds, worldview, emotional maturity, and relationship with themselves.

Sometimes, people can only interpret your growth, healing, and success through the limitations of their own perspective.

• Language matters. 

The difference between “showing off,” “showing up,” and “showing the way” may seem small at first glance. Yet each phrase carried a completely different meaning, emotional weight, and intention.

As the scripture says, life and death live in the tongue, which means that the words we use are powerful. Our words can affirm, fortify, guide, or deeply inspire people. Our words can create safety and strength, and make people feel seen. But they can also reinforce insecurity and doubt, especially during moments when people are already vulnerable.

That realization stayed with me. And honestly, it connected deeply to many of the conversations I have been having lately with people in this community.

How?

Over the last several weeks, I have spoken with people navigating career transitions, health challenges, grief, divorce, burnout, entrepreneurship, leadership changes, caregiving responsibilities, IVF, and profound personal reinvention. Although the stories are different, the emotional thread underneath many of them feels strikingly similar.

So many people are trying to rebuild themselves while simultaneously discerning who around them is truly safe for their spirit and supportive of their journey.

That is not a small thing.

Why?

Transition seasons are NOT easy. ( I share more on YouTube.)

And one of the things I have learned, both personally and through walking alongside so many incredible people, is that there are certain kinds of people we all need in our lives while we are becoming, healing, growing, building, or pivoting.

• We need people who can celebrate us.

Not tolerate us. Not compete with us. Not secretly resenting our growth while pretending to support us. We need people who can genuinely recognize resilience, courage, healing, discipline, and progress, and respond with joy rather than discomfort.

Life already creates enough doubt during difficult seasons. We need the people closest to us to be sources of support, not to become an additional source of emotional diminishment.

• We also need people who can champion us.

There is a difference between people who compliment your dream and people who actively champion it to help you move toward it.

Champions share resources, wisdom, opportunities, encouragement, and strategy. They speak your name in rooms you have never entered. They remind you of your possibilities when exhaustion makes you forget. They help you effectively operationalize, mobilize, and execute.

Championing is not just visceral; it’s visible. It’s practical and tangible. You hear, see, and feel the support.

• We also need people who can hold our confidences with care.

Growth seasons often leave people emotionally exposed. Sometimes we are trying to heal while still functioning. Sometimes we are grieving privately while leading publicly. Sometimes we are experimenting, rebuilding, failing, learning, and finding our footing again. In seasons like these, emotionally safe relationships matter deeply. We need people who can hold our vulnerability without weaponizing it. We need sanctuaries where our secrets are safe.

• And finally, we need people capable of offering loving critique.

The truth is, none of us becomes our best selves alone, especially when we feel vulnerable. That’s why wise counsel matters. Accountability matters. Reflection matters. (Listen on Youtube)

However, critique must be healthy; it needs to strengthen people rather than shrink them. It must provide insight without attacking our dignity and robbing us of our humanity.  It must promote growth without creating shame. It must be comments rooted in love and NOT commentary rooted in projection.

An inconvenient truth is that as we grow, heal, pivot, expand, or evolve, our circles sometimes must change to ensure we have those 4 types of people in our lives.

Not because we think we are better than anyone else, but because becoming, healing, and growing require environments that nourish honesty, courage, healing, accountability, and peace.

My friend, what I know for sure is that many of us are carrying things quietly while still trying to show up for our families, our work, our healing, our faith, and our future.

❤️And….we are showing up and doing the DARN thing, whatever the thing is for us.

That’s why I celebrate you, and I pray you celebrate yourself.

You are making progress, you are not giving up, and you are still trusting.

You are DARING TO SOAR HIGHER and that takes tremendous courage.

So,  if you know someone navigating transition, healing, reinvention, or uncertainty right now, I hope you will share this with them.

👉 I hope you also listen to the episode on Deciding To Soar: Living Life Your Own Way, where I share more about this experience. Click here.

Also, you can join us in the Reclamation Circle, where we continue these conversations about healing, identity, leadership, purpose, and becoming. Email me at SharRon@SharRonJamison.com

I pray you have a wonderful week, knowing that you are making progress and you are running your race at your own pace!

A Blessing For YOU:

May you have the wisdom to recognize who is safe for your spirit.
May you have the courage to distance yourself from voices that diminish your becoming.
May you be surrounded by people who can celebrate your healing without competing with it.
May you find champions who help you build what God placed inside of you.
And may you never shrink your light just to make insecure people comfortable.

Blessings,

SharRon

Watch the Video on FB here.

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