When the Moment Finally Comes
There are moments in life that you pray for, work toward, and imagine long before they ever happen. The kind of moments that feel like they will confirm everything you’ve been building. The kind of moments that, in your mind, should feel like confidence, certainty, and arrival.
Recently, I was selected as SBA Business Person of the Year for my state. And while I received the news with gratitude, peace, and a full heart, I also had a quiet awareness in that moment.
Not of doubt, but of growth.
Because I realized something important: the voice that used to lead me didn’t speak first anymore.
The Difference Between Who You Were and Who You’ve Become
There was a time in my life where receiving something like that would have immediately triggered a different response. A response rooted in questioning, shrinking, and disbelief.
“Why me?”
“Am I really ready?”
“Do I even deserve this?”
That was my wounded voice. The version of me that operated from insecurity, from past experiences, from a place that hadn’t fully healed yet.
But in this moment, that voice didn’t lead.
My healed voice did.
And my healed voice knows how to receive.
What Identity Lag Really Looks Like
This is what identity lag can look like in real time. It’s not always loud doubt or visible insecurity. Sometimes, it’s simply the awareness that an old version of you still exists, but she no longer has control.
Psychologically, identity lag happens when your external life has grown, but parts of your internal self are still catching up. Old thought patterns, old beliefs, old emotional responses may still try to surface, even when you’ve outgrown them.
And when they do, you have a choice.
You can follow them…
Or you can recognize them.
The Wounded Voice vs The Healed Voice
The wounded voice is reactive. It questions your worth. It looks for reasons why you shouldn’t be in the room. It’s shaped by past rejection, past doubt, past versions of yourself that had to survive more than they got to thrive.
The healed voice is grounded. It receives with gratitude. It understands that growth has taken place. It doesn’t need to question every blessing, it knows how to stand in it.
And here’s the truth:
Both voices can exist at the same time.
But only one should lead.
Awareness Is the Shift
What changed for me wasn’t that the wounded voice disappeared completely. It’s that I can recognize it now.
It may still try to whisper. It may still try to remind me of who I used to be. But it no longer defines how I respond.
Because healing doesn’t mean the voice never shows up.
Healing means you no longer agree with it.
Healing means you can hear it… and gently put it back in its place.
You Can Learn to Receive
For a long time, many of us have learned how to work, how to push, how to survive, how to prove. But we were never taught how to receive.
Receive opportunities.
Receive recognition.
Receive good things without questioning them.
And sometimes, that’s the hardest part of growth.
Not getting there… but allowing yourself to fully be there.
What This Means for You
If you’re stepping into new spaces, new opportunities, or new levels in your life and you feel a mix of gratitude and unfamiliarity, I want you to understand this:
That doesn’t mean you don’t belong.
It means you’re growing.
It means your identity is expanding. It means your healed self is learning how to lead in spaces your wounded self once felt unqualified for.
And in those moments, your job is not to shrink.
Your job is to stay aware.
Let Your Healed Self Lead
You are allowed to receive the life you’ve worked for.
You are allowed to stand in moments that once felt out of reach.
You are allowed to grow beyond the version of you that doubted everything.
And when that old voice tries to rise, you don’t have to fight it harshly.
You just have to recognize it and choose differently.
A Faith Reminder
God doesn’t elevate the version of you that is stuck in doubt. He grows you into the version of you that can carry what you prayed for.
And even when parts of your past try to speak, they don’t get the final say.
You are not who you used to be.
You are who you’ve grown into.
And that version of you knows how to receive.
Keep The Faith
You can be healed and still hear echoes of your past.
You can be confident and still notice old thoughts.
You can be growing and still be aware of who you used to be.
That’s not weakness.
That’s awareness.
So when life expands and opportunities come, don’t let your old voice take the lead.
Recognize it.
Honor how far you’ve come.
And let your healed self respond.
Keep the Faith. 💚👑
Comment
I needed this today! Tysm for the message!