A Simple Way to Come Back to Yourself

Nothing Changed… But I Felt Different…

“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.”
Robert Brault

I want to share a small story with you.

February has highlighted love — and I’ve been writing about how the love we cultivate within ourselves helps us stay grounded when the world feels loud… when the news feels heavy… when the state of affairs can leave us feeling untethered.

My husband and I still get our local daily newspaper, and I subscribe to an online one as well. We don’t watch television news, but we certainly have access to what’s happening.

Recently, I read a piece that left me feeling heavy. Sad. Wondering how we’ve arrived at this place in our world. In that moment, I felt helpless.

So we decided to go for a hike in the trail system we can access right from our home.

Even the simple act of walking outside began to shift something in me. But what truly changed my mood was where I placed my attention.

Though it’s still technically winter here in the Pacific Northwest, it’s been mild. Plants that usually wait until March had already begun to bloom. There they were — small openings of life after a season of dormancy.

And I felt genuinely grateful.

That small shift — noticing new growth, feeling the cool air, hearing the rhythm of our steps — softened the heaviness I’d been carrying just moments before.

Nothing about the world had changed.

But my internal state had.

It reminded me how powerful our focus is. When we allow ourselves to receive even the smallest moments of beauty, gratitude rises naturally. And when gratitude rises, the nervous system steadies. The inner dialogue softens. The weight feels lighter.

I continued that hike feeling more grounded. More connected. More hopeful. Not because I ignored reality — but because I chose where my attention rested.

If you’ve been in this community for a while, you know I speak often about gratitude. Not as forced positivity, but as a stabilizing practice. A way to come back home to yourself.

As we move toward a new month, this is your gentle reminder:

Gratitude is a natural extension of love.

And love — especially the steady kind you cultivate within — keeps the outside noise from running your internal world.

If you missed my recent message on Reclaiming Your Calm in a Noisy World, you can read it here. 

An Invitation

If coming back to yourself feels like something you need right now, I’d love to support you in that.

Between now and mid-March, I have four openings for one-on-one work.

You can choose:

Come Home to Yourself — a 6-session journey focused on calming overwhelm and retraining your nervous system.

OR

A shorter 4-session focus designed specifically to retrain self-talk and strengthen your internal dialogue — something I’ll be exploring more deeply in March.

Both options are private and tailored specifically to you.

If you’ve been carrying heaviness, stress, or anxiety that feels difficult to manage alone, let’s talk.

I promise our conversation — and the brief calming process I guide you through — will help you feel clearer about your next step, even if that step isn’t working with me right now.

Warmly,
Jackie