We Can Do Hard Things: And We Can Choose How We See Them

– Inspired by Glennon Doyle and her book “Untamed”

What’s the thing in your life right now that makes you feel disempowered?

Fill in your own blank: scrolling instead of resting, eating for comfort instead of nourishment, spiraling into fear instead of grounding into presence, avoiding your goals because they feel too big, too far, too overwhelming, losing yourself in everyone else’s expectations.

We’ve all got one.
I have mine too.

This morning, jet-lagged and underslept, I caught myself reaching for a pastry and a latte instead of the nourishing breakfast I’d promised myself. I scrolled my phone longer than I should have. And I felt that heavy, familiar internal sigh:

“Nothing I do matters.”

That thought hit hard — an echo from an old storyline I’ve worked years to outgrow. But then I remembered Glennon’s line: We can do hard things.

And more importantly, we can choose the story we tell about what those hard things mean.

Because here’s the truth, I have to relearn on a weekly basis: The story I tell myself has a bigger impact on my life than the thing that’s actually happening.

Whose Story Are You Carrying?

A few years ago, a mentor offered me a metaphor I still think about weekly. She said:

“Most of us are hiking through life carrying a backpack someone else packed for us.”

Inside that backpack? Old beliefs. Inherited fears. Expectations that never belonged to us. Stories handed to us before we were old enough to question them. We don’t even notice the weight because we’ve carried it for so long.

But here’s what struck me: We are allowed to open the backpack. We are allowed to take things out. We are allowed to decide what actually belongs to us.

One of my closest friends — a woman who’s survived trauma that would flatten most people — did exactly that. She didn’t pretend the load wasn’t heavy. She didn’t deny the reality of her pain. But she made one radical, quiet choice: she refused to believe her story was written by her past, and that healing was possible.

Her transformation didn’t come from erasing the past. It came from choosing a new meaning for it — intentionally, repeatedly, imperfectly.

And when I watched her do that, it forced me to ask myself:

Where am I still carrying weight that isn’t mine?
Where am I letting old stories run my life?
Where am I choosing disempowerment without even noticing?

The Meaning You Assign Isn’t the Truth — It’s Just the Meaning You Chose

We’re story-making animals.
We need meaning to feel safe.

But meaning isn’t truth.
Meaning is interpretation.

Most of us forget that.

Take money, relationships, risk-taking, failure, athletic identity — any of it. The meaning we assign shapes our emotional landscape.

Two people can look at the same rapid:

One says, “This is dangerous.”
One says, “This is fun.”

Same water.
Different stories.

Two people look at the same bank account:

“I don’t have enough.”
“I’m doing okay.”

Same numbers.
Different stories.

None of those are Truth.
They’re narratives.
And narratives are adjustable.

The Empowered View Isn’t Always Comfortable — But It’s Always Available

Choosing an empowering story doesn’t always feel natural. Sometimes it feels forced, clunky, or hollow.

Just like choosing: the clean line when fear wants you to portage, the final moves of the climb when your legs are shaking, the last push on the skin track when you want to quit, the final mile on your bike when your lungs are burning.

We can do hard things. And sometimes the hardest thing is challenging your own thinking. Choosing an empowering interpretation isn’t “positive thinking.” It’s not denial. It’s not bypassing. It’s taking responsibility for the lens you’re looking through.

And choosing: agency over helplessness, curiosity over collapse, presence over panic, meaning that supports your growth instead of repeating your past.

Here’s What I’m Choosing Today

I choose to believe:
I can deal with everything that arises in my life.
I can shift my context when my mind spirals.
I can show up for myself with courage and commitment.
I can align with my passion, purpose, and people.
I can give myself grace when I reach for comfort.

I’m not striving for perfection — just empowered awareness.

What Are You Choosing Today?

If you’re struggling with this — if you feel disempowered, tangled in old patterns, unsure how to shift into a more empowering story — you don’t have to figure it out alone.

This is precisely the work we’re doing inside the Wyld Heart group coaching beginning January 6th.

We’ll help you:
rewrite old stories,
regulate your stress response,
choose an empowered lens,
reconnect to your intuition,
and build resilience you can actually feel.

If you want a reset — and a new way of seeing your life — join us January 6th.

You get to choose the meaning.
You get to choose the story.
You get to choose the life you’re living.

We can do hard things — especially together.