#TheBounceBackLife

What does it really take to bounce back after you’ve fallen short, lost momentum, or doubted your worth?

In this powerful episode of #TheAuthenticLife, Keisha gets real about the messy, often unspoken truth of what it means to rebuild — emotionally, spiritually, and mentally. From recognizing the weight of what you've lost to creating rituals that anchor your healing, this episode walks you through the bounce back process step by step.

You’ll explore:

• Why resilience isn’t random — it’s a routine
• How to forgive yourself for what you didn’t know then
• What it looks like to rebuild with alignment, not old expectations
• And how your comeback story is connected to someone else’s breakthrough

This episode isn’t about quick fixes or pretty Instagram quotes — it’s about doing the internal work so your bounce back can be real, sustainable, and soul-led.

💛 Plus: Subscribers get access to an exclusive bonus episode this week.

Press play, take a breath, and reclaim your power — this is #TheBounceBackLife.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to The Authentic Life
• 1:54 Introduction to The Bounce Back Life
• 5:00 The Truth About Bouncing Back
• 13:41 Building Resilience Through Routine
• 20:23 Self-Forgiveness as a Power Move
• 28:42 Redefining Success in Your Comeback
• 36:19 Your Bounce Back Impacts Others
• 46:35 Closing Thoughts and Encouragement

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

Hi, it's your girl, keisha, and welcome to the Authentic Life. Each episode, I'll guide you on the journey to living fully, freely and unapologetically. Together, we'll dive into real stories, practical insights and steps you can take to embrace your truth and show up as your most authentic self. So guess what? I am glad that you are here with me, let's get started. Glad that you are here with me, let's get started. Hello, hello, hello and welcome back. Welcome back to Hashtag, the Authentic Life, the place where we explore what it means to live freely, to live fully and, most importantly, to live unapologetically as yourself. I'm your girl, keisha, and you know how we do. It's real talk, it's real life and, hopefully, it's some real transformation. So if you're new here, welcome to the journey, and if you're a returning listener, thank you for walking this path with me waiting for the next episode. I know I've been MIA, but I have had many, many travels. I've been to Japan, I've been to New Orleans, I've been to Wilmington, I'm about to go to Nashville. I've been all over the place and so it has taken away more time than I expected, but I'm back. So last time we talked about hashtag, the self-sabotage life, and that one hit deep for a lot of us. I had a lot of people reach out to me about that the self-love, the self-worth, all of those self hashtag, self-something life. I've had a lot of people reach back out to me about those and I'm so appreciative of you all listening, you all reaching out, giving commentary, all the things. Well, this week we're going to turn the page and I'm ready to get to a place of talking about resilience, talking about strategy, talking about healing in what I'm calling hashtag, the bounce back life. See, my birthday was a couple of weeks ago, not even a couple of weeks ago, it was last week. It's, depending on when you're listening to this, april 3rd to be exact. Hashtag the 45 life. Depending on when you're listening to this, april 3rd to be exact. Hashtag the 45 life. And I just turned 45.

Speaker 1: 2:08

And in thinking about all of the episodes that I've done thus far and really reflecting while I'm recording them, reflecting after I've listened to them, as I was embracing my trip in Japan and my trip in New Orleans and all the things that I was doing, and then coming up on turning 45 this year, I really was like, you know, as I move forward. This is about positivity, this is about peace. I've done some a lot of self-reflection and really have dug as deep as I can and probably could dig a little more deeper into myself and really I'm at a place where this is really about. I care, but I don't give a fuck. That's where I'm at and I'll talk a little bit about that. If you read my last newsletter that I dropped on LinkedIn, I talked about that and I explained what it was. It's not like I don't care, I don't care, but it really is about that bounce hashtag, the bounce back life. So this episode is going to focus on how do we move forward? How do we get to a place. Okay, we've identified that. Hey, I got some self-love issues I need to work through. I got some self-worth issues I need to work through. I'm self-sabotaging here and there, but at the end of the day, I'm trying to be peaceful, happy, live, live a soft life, all the things. So we're now going to try to move into what we're thinking about living. Hashtag the authentic life.

Speaker 1: 3:32

I talked to you and said very early on it's about doing that self-reflection. It's about taking stock of who you are, how you show up in the world, how you show up for yourself, how you show up for others, all the things, and I think the past episodes has really allowed us to dig deep into that and really do some self-reflection. Because I know, when I am doing the episode and recording the episode, I've been thinking to myself like when I'm talking and I'm telling you all, hey, you need to do this and this is a strategy, and I'm thinking about that and I'm thinking through my own life as I'm talking, I'm like, girl, you need to check yourself, you need to fall back for a second. You forgot. So I hope that you all, at this point, have really done some self-reflection, because now I'm moving towards how to. Okay, I've done the self-reflection.

Speaker 1: 4:23

I know the things that I need to work on, I know my strengths, I know my weaknesses and opportunities for growth. I know my triggers, I know my traumas. I know all of those things. Now, how can I press forward and have a not just a happy life, but a joyful life as you're moving forward? So that's where we're going to start, um, or that's where we are going and trying to embrace. So, as I always say, you grab your cup of coffee, you grab your glass of wine, you grab a cup of tea or whatever the case. Get you a journal, get your notes for your phone and let's get it OK. So the truth about the bounce back. So I'm going to be transparent, honest, real, all the things with you all about the bounce back. That thing is not always cute. It definitely isn't always Instagram worthy.

Speaker 1: 5:15

When we think about the bounce back, or in self-sabotage and some of the passings that I've talked about, there are times when we can be so deep in our own self-sabotage that trying to bounce back can feel like trying to jump out of quicksand with weights around our ankles. We want to fix it and we want to fix it fast, because we got to get back to that polished version of ourselves that we exude to the world, right? But here's the truth. Something like that is not instant Resilience, right, we like to use that word all the time and sometimes we really don't. Sometimes I just don't want to have to be resilient, but sometimes we do. But nonetheless, it's not instant. It's something that's built over time and it's often built in silence, behind closed doors, when no one is around. When no one is around, when no one is cheering, and you're wondering if it's even worth the comeback, right? So having a full transparency moment.

Speaker 1: 6:14

Early on I made the statement about I care, but I don't give a fuck. And for those that are new here, I cuss very minimal, but you may hear, but this, this is a model that I have in my head and it's not that I don't care about people, I don't care about things, it's just about how I process the things that I do care about. And so, going into that full transparency, there was a moment in my life where I was so consumed with what I was experiencing in my life. At that time it negatively impacted my emotions. It negatively impacted my interactions with people. It negatively impacted the way I interacted and engaged.

Speaker 1: 6:59

I was always in my feelings. It was like this weight was on my shoulders, this black cloud was over my head all the time and I just could not get out of that space, no matter how much I try. And a lot of times I could get myself out the quicksand and something would always knock me back down, right, something would always push me back into it, may it be a conversation with somebody or replaying or overthinking the situation and the circumstance and all the things right, but when I'm really sitting in, sitting in my room and really kind of thinking through everything with myself and you get to a place of asking yourself like, how do I even get here? Right. And then it's like you figure out that you're stuck between disappointment and disconnection. Right, I'm disappointed in what I'm experiencing, I'm disappointed in how I'm managing what I'm experiencing and because of that disappointment in that all of those feelings I'm managing what I'm experiencing and because of that disappointment and all of those feelings, I'm ultimately disconnected.

Speaker 1: 8:10

So you get to a place where and I got to a place where I felt like I had accomplished so much when it came to my emotions because I teach emotional intelligence and how to manage and not allowing things to have a negative impact on my emotions, right, and I had worked through a lot of things, through counseling and all of that stuff, and I just felt like all the things that I had worked on was falling to the wayside and you start to begin to feel like you've lost momentum. You feel like you lost self-trust and honesty and, honestly, you feel like you lost a little bit of yourself, right, and you know what makes it worse is that you walk around pretending like none of that is happening to you, right? You're smiling through everything. You're acting like you got everything under control. You're trying to put on a brave face. You're trying to be funny. It's like you're putting on like you're. You're trying to put on a brave face. You're trying to be funny. It's like you're putting on like you're you're.

Speaker 1: 9:12

It's a character that is now playing what is your life, but when you think about it, your inner world is crumbling. It's falling apart, so that I don't care, that I care. Not, I'm sorry, not, I don't care. I do care that I care, but I don't give a fuck for me really came from a place of I truly do care, because I am a human being. I have feelings. I need to. I need to own my feelings. I need to accept my feelings. I need to process my feelings. That I don't give a fuck comes into play where it's like I can't let that control me. It is what it is. I can only control Keisha. I can't control what another person is doing or what another person isn't doing, and the only person that I need to worry about disappointing at this point in my life, at these good 45 years, is Keisha, nobody else. So that's where that comes from.

Speaker 1: 10:01

So what I learned was your bounce back starts when you stop lying to yourself about the fall right. You've got to name what hurt, name what got lost and name what you're still holding on to right and working through that thing. So a strategy that I want you to think about is name the loss, don't sugarcoat it. It be 100 real about what is going on, the role you play, the role other people play. Be honest and transparent, because we cannot heal what we refuse to acknowledge. So you have to be honest with yourself. So, like that situation, I had to own what I was doing to create what I was dealing with. Like that feeling of being stuck in the, in the quicksand, because a lot of times we like to say somebody hurt, hurt us, right. No, you hurt yourself. A lot of times you hurt yourself because you knew you should have quit that job or left that person or whatever the case may be Right. So we can't heal what we refuse to acknowledge and we cannot rebuild what we haven't even admitted is broken. So you have to be transparent and honest with yourself. So here's your step one in the bounce back journey Get radically honest with yourself. And so try this journaling prompt.

Speaker 1: 11:19

I feel like I lost blank when I blank, fill in the blank with no filters, no shame and no edits. I feel like I lost blank when I blank. Examples might be things like I feel like I lost my sense of purpose when I took a job just to pay the bills. I feel like I lost my confidence when I stayed in that relationship too long. I feel like I lost myself when I started performing instead of living. This practice isn't about drowning in regret. It's actually about owning your story with clarity, because the truth is what you won't name, you can't navigate, and we're not staying stuck in survival mode. We're trying to build something stronger.

Speaker 1: 12:04

So a bonus strategy for you is to pair your journaling with an audio memo to yourself. Hearing your voice on the pain and the power is transformative. Save it, come back to it in 90 days and watch growth, and I promise you I have so many voice memos about things that I was dealing with, and recently I was cleaning out my phone and I went back and listened to them. Let me tell y'all something when you hear yourself in pain, when you hear yourself talking about what you are letting yourself deal with and allow, occur in your life like 90 days, 180 days, even 365 days. I promise you that is a reality check like nobody's business. It is something better than any friend conversation that you can have with a friend, a counselor. Anybody else is to hear yourself talk about some mess that you're dealing with later on and you are like what, what, what in the world is wrong with you? So I highly recommend doing that. So, as usual, let me know how you did that by logging on to LinkedIn and doing all the things, and so that is how you did that, by logging on to LinkedIn and doing all the things, and so that is how you start. And that's the truth about the bounce back. Okay, so we've talked about resilience, and resilience isn't random, it's a routine. So now let's talk about what happens after you name the laws, because clarity is the spark, but consistency is the structure.

Speaker 1: 13:50

So I told you I was in my little deep funk, and I mean deep, I mean it was deep. I was walking around with the little cloud that you see in the, in the, the little cartoon movies, where the person got the cloud, the dark cloud, over their head and it's thundering and lightning. Yeah, that was me for a minute, but I realized I didn't have a real system to support my healing right. I had gone through counseling and did all the things and I was implementing, I was journaling, I was doing all the stuff, but I was again so stuck in how I was feeling. You know, I was waiting on motivation to rescue me. You know one of those magical mornings where the sun hits just right, the playlist is perfect and suddenly I feel like running the world. But those days were rare. I had some of those days, but they were rare. And so discipline, not motivation, is what needed to show up first. So I had to stop waiting for the feeling and start designing a rhythm that honored my healing. Not my hustle, not productivity, just presence, right.

Speaker 1: 14:53

So in thinking about a strategy to begin that routine, you gotta create a bounce back ritual. What's your personal recovery plan? This isn't what's your everyday morning routine. This is your emergency grounding kit. It's what you go back to when you feel scattered, unmotivated, anxious or stuck. It's your reset button. It's the thing that helps bring you back to center. So this is in addition to that stuff you already do in the morning walking in the mirror telling yourself you look good and you look great. This is the thing that when you need to be centered. This is what you go to, so I'm going to keep saying this.

Speaker 1: 15:31

So y'all probably gonna hear a little bit more cussing in this one than you've ever heard in any episode, but I apologize for those who don't appreciate that or like or cuss, but for me, my center now is when I get to a place where I am anxiety driven, my nervous system about to be unregulated, I go into hypervigilant mode. I really do go to the Keisha. You care, and it's OK to care about this thing, process what you feel about it, but you don't give a fuck. You're not going to overthink it. You're not. You're going to acknowledge it, but you're going to move on. You will deal with it the best way that you can, but you're not going to carry it with you every day, right, and so listening to morning affirmation, staying off of social media, stop listening to like social.

Speaker 1: 16:28

Once I feel like, once I really let go of talking about the situation, looking at things on social media related to the social, to the situation. It gave me a point of clarity from a mindset perspective. So you know what is your ritual, what is the thing that's going to get you grounded when you feel like you are falling Right. So start with these two questions what three things bring me back to myself when I'm off center? Think, is it silence, movement, prayer, worship, therapy, breathe, work, journaling, nature, dancing in your kitchen, whatever the case may be, but what are those three things that bring you back to yourself when you're feeling off?

Speaker 1: 17:19

The second question is what do I need to remove that keeps me stuck in the past version of me? This can be unhealthy habits, a voice in your head, a toxic playlist. You know, we got those playlists on our phones, like I got some playlists on my phone that say fuck them people. Or I have a whole bunch of playlists on my phone that probably is real toxic, that I don't need to listen to when I'm off center, right. Or even the way you talk to yourself when nobody's listening, or the conversations that you have with people, right. So think about that. Like I said, for myself, I knew what I needed to remove because it was just perpetuating how I was feeling about certain things. And so what are those things that you need to remove so that you don't feel stuck?

Speaker 1: 18:08

So you know, some rituals can include silence before you touch your phone. So, like every time you get up in the morning, it's the first thing you do. You get on your phone, scrolling on Instagram, tiktok, facebook, linkedin, whatever the case may be. What are you doing? Right? A whispered prayer, even if it's just God, carry me today. Right, that's a ritual. Like can you just get me through today? Or God, I mean, I understand, but I don't understand and leave it at that. Right, get you some fresh air, get out for 10 minutes, do things that make you, that bring you joy, that you're not worried about anybody else, and you do these things. It brings you joy.

Speaker 1: 18:57

Counseling sessions, where you speak your truth out loud to someone, right? I believe in therapy. I believe in working with a therapist because you got to talk to somebody that don't have a dog in your fight, but don't be talking about the same thing. Like, for a moment with my counselor, I said I know you're getting tired of hearing me talk about this because I promise you, I'm tired of talking to you about it. So it was a couple of sessions and I was just like you know what that? Can we talk about something else, right? So just being mindful of that.

Speaker 1: 19:26

And then having affirmations. There's a affirmation podcast that I listen to regularly, and so what are, though? Like, what are affirmations? I have affirmations written in lipstick on all my mirrors in in my bedroom, like so, what are different rituals that you have that you can play back and remind yourself who you really are?

Speaker 1: 19:47

Right, a bounce back ritual tip is don't overthink it. Just choose two to three things you can commit to on hard days, and let those actions speak louder than your feelings, because the goal of a bounce back isn't perfection, it's presence. When you start showing up for yourself in small ways, your energy starts to shift, your clarity returns and, before you know it, you're rebuilding. When thinking about the bounce back, we got to think about self-forgiveness, because self-forgiveness is a power move. So this was, and this can be, the hardest part of your bounce back journey Not rebuilding your routines, not setting boundaries, not even cutting people off.

Speaker 1: 20:40

It's forgiving yourself, right, for the times that you let yourself down, that you silence your voice or ignored red flags that you knew were waving in your face big as day, loud and proud girl. What you doing, what you doing, what you doing? Right so that? Right, so that forgiveness is so difficult for us? Right, because we can carry shame like an armor, right. It's like if I stay mad at myself, it's somehow proving that I'm learning the lesson that I need to be learning, right, but in reality, all you're doing is punishing a version of yourself that didn't know what you didn't know, or didn't know what you do know now, right. And that's not growth, that's guilt on replay. So this is what you have to accept. I do the best that I can with the tools that I have at the time. I do the best that I can with the tools that I have at the time.

Speaker 1: 21:41

The version of me who made the choice wasn't weak. She was surviving, she was figuring it out, she was trying to protect herself in only the ways that she knew. How right, we get so caught up in people viewing us weak and caring about people looking at us as though we're weak people viewing us weak and caring about people looking at us as though we're weak. And one thing that my counselor told me that I'm so appreciative of, because I would say in some moments that you know I don't know what in the world wrong with me, what I don't know what in the world is wrong with me like I got more sense than most. At least, I feel like I got a lot of sense. So what in the world is going on? And she would say, like what you're dealing with and how you're processing it, and what you're doing and the decisions that you make are common, like it's like y'all, you want to have this instant fix and it's like no, that thing takes time and you will eventually get there. It's not that you're weak, it's not that you're stupid. She said you're surviving and you're just trying to figure it out. And so I was very appreciative of that.

Speaker 1: 22:47

And so, in being real with myself, even as someone who coaches other people, this can always be a humbling experience, because it's easy to extend grace outward, but turning that grace inward, that takes intentional work. It takes looking yourself in the mirror and saying I'm not going to hold this over my head anymore. I deserve a fresh start for me from me, right? So in thinking about a strategy and how to work through that, I tried to look at the three R forgiveness framework, recognize, reframe and then release it. So let's break this down and do that work, right? So recognize, start by naming exactly what you're holding against yourself and be specific.

Speaker 1: 23:39

So an example of that is I'm still upset with myself for staying in a situation that drained me. I feel ashamed of how I handled that opportunity. I know I sabotaged it. Write it down, say it loud. Don't bury it, because what stays hidden stays heavy. Reframe this is where the healing starts. Ask yourself what would I say to a friend who made the same mistake? Now say that to yourself. So, instead of I failed, reframe it as I discovered what doesn't work for me. Instead of I should have known better, say now that I know better, I can be better.

Speaker 1: 24:20

This isn't about avoiding accountability. It's about replacing self-blame with self-compassion, the key to moving forward without dragging old pain into your new path. And the last one is about release. And now we let it go, not with a post, not with a nice little quote, but with our ritual Write yourself a forgiveness letter. You can start it with I forgive you for. Burn it, rip it, bury it, or keep it in your journal as a declaration that you're done living under the weight of what has already happened. You can even record a voice memo to yourself saying the words you needed to hear back then and the ones you need to hear now, and then I challenge you, if you do that, to play that voice memo back anytime you feel yourself slipping into shame, make your healing louder than your history. So for me, writing that letter about forgiving myself for all the things right and then replaying that and reading that and put, I put mine in my journal and left it as a place of reflection. But it gives you just that a place to reflect.

Speaker 1: 25:33

The other thing is use visual anchors. Put a sticky note on your mirror with your forgiveness mantra, simply something simple and powerful, like I forgive me. I am growing. My past decisions don't define my present worth right. Every bounce back requires relief, release and self-forgiveness. That's the spiritual permission slip to walk in wholeness. So I mentioned in my home I have on my mirror written in red lipstick because if you know me, I love me. Some red lipstick shout out Ruby Woo, but I have things on my mirror. It's not about forgiveness or anything like that, but it really is. It says um, let it be and let God. Those two things have been on my mirror for probably a year or more. At this point, probably more than a year, because I need to really learn how to just let be, let stuff be. At the time I wrote it I really was in a place where I was trying to challenge myself. Girl, just let stuff be. It is what it is, just let it be and let God Stop worrying about it. So I'm at the place now, I'm letting it be and I'm letting God by. I care, but I don't give a okay. So you have to embrace self-forgiveness.

Speaker 1: 26:55

We give grace to other people every single day. We will be okay with somebody shitting on us in a heartbeat because we are understanding that they may have had some bad experiences and all the things. But your bad experience and me having an understanding of your bad experience does not allow you to treat me like trash, right? And so we give people so much grace and we have to learn how to give ourselves grace. We also have to learn how to stop talking to people, right, because everybody's going to have their opinions about what we should do, what we shouldn't do, how we should move, and you know I really try. I have the things that I have dealt with and the things that I have experienced in my life past and present has really put me in a place to where I won't tell nobody what they should or shouldn't do about nothing. I don't care how good it is, how bad it is. I will listen to a person, and everybody has their own journey, and we are so quick to say what we wouldn't do and I will tell anybody.

Speaker 1: 27:59

You do not know the wars you would fight until you are in the battle, standing on the front line, and got to make a decision what you're going to do. It's easy to say that I would never. You don't know what you would never do until you're in the midst of it. So give yourself grace, like begin to forgive yourself for choices that you make, the poor choices that we make. We all make poor choices. It's about understanding and reframing that thing. Oh, okay. Well, this is what I can do to be different. This is what I can do to be better. So learn how to do some self-forgiveness and please yourself grace, okay. So rebuilding means redefining. So let me say something that took me a minute to understand.

Speaker 1: 28:50

Sometimes we bounce back into the very life that broke us. We rush to get back to normal, but, if we're honest, that version of normal was draining us, limiting us and pulling us out of alignment long before we hit rock bottom. So when I was in my own bounce back season after feeling like I lost my voice, my peace, my clarity, all the things I kept trying to recreate. What once worked right, what are the things that, before all of this happened, what was working right? And sometimes, when we think about things, it could be the job title, the calendar full busy things, the perfectly curated schedule that looked impressive but left us empty, right? So it wasn't until I took a pause and asked do I even want the version of that thing anymore? Right, things started to shift at that point when I asked that question.

Speaker 1: 29:57

Right, it's like you're doing all this fighting, you're doing all. You got all these feelings, you got all these emotions, you feeling all this stuff to get back to a place that, like, do I even really want to be in that same place? Because if I was in that place, me being in that place got me to where I'm at right now. So is that a place that I'm really want to be? Am I fighting for something? I don't really know if that's exactly how I want it. And here's what the thing that you got to admit, we begin to measure progress based off of outdated metrics, old goals, old definitions of winning, and that mindset will keep us tethered to a version of ourselves that we have already outgrown will keep us tethered to situations that we have outgrown. That would keep us tethered to jobs that we should have left Right.

Speaker 1: 31:01

So sometimes your bounce back doesn't mean getting everything back the way that it was. Sometimes your bounce back means surrendering what no longer fits you so you can build something that actually honors who you are right now, not who you were when you started, right. So for me, when I talk about that situation, it really is about it's not trying to get back to old version, cause this is what something another thing my therapist told me when we think about people and we think about jobs and things like that, and you know you start a new job and you at that new job and it's like everybody is so nice and friendly and yada, yada, yada, it's like this is the greatest place to work, right. And then eight months, nine months, those people that was friendly ain't so friendly anymore People not talking, people ain't smiling, people ain't doing the same thing. And what she told me was a lot of times what you get up front, you can't compare what you're getting now to what you got on the front end, because if you've been getting what you're getting for the last year, two years, three years, and you got what you got on the front end for eight, nine, ten months. What you're getting right now is what they're able to produce. They're not able to produce more than what you're getting right now. You just got the good stuff to pull you in in the beginning, right. And so when we're thinking about rebuilding and bounce backing to something, what you're trying to bounce back to right. So it goes back to me saying that sometimes it means that you have to surrender what no longer fits for you because it wasn't ever like supposed to be there from the get-go, right? So, strategy for you Redefine success through alignment, not achievement. So your bounce back is your opportunity to redefine everything.

Speaker 1: 33:03

What does peace look like to you now? What does joy feel like in this season? See, we like to focus on being happy, which we should be happy, but that happiness can ebb and flow. What about joy? So, for me, I had to like and I heard this on a podcast that I was listening to that really talked about the difference between joy and happiness, because I never really thought about difference. Like I always focus on happy, I don't ever really focus on joy. But happiness can ebb and flow and I can be happy. I can be unhappy, but still be full of joy, right? And so what does joy feel like in this season for you? And if you don't even know what joy looks like of unhappiness, at certain points I got so much joy about where I'm at right now in this season of my life, right?

Speaker 1: 34:10

So what relationships are worthy of your energy? What relationships are you going to put energy into and what relationships aren't you? What goals are truly yours and which ones are someone else's expectations dressed up as ambitions for you, right? So here's how to begin. First thing you're going to do is reclaim your metrics. Instead of external validation markers, the promotion, the likes, the applause focus on internal alignment. Examples of that is I want to feel energized when I leave work, not exhausted. I want my relationships to be reciprocal, not draining. I want to live in a body that feels strong and sacred, not picked apart.

Speaker 1: 34:54

Then you're going to choose one thing to release. What's one thing you were chasing that no longer serves your peace? It could be a career path that you're outgrew. It could be a relationship dynamic where you shrink An image you've been performing that no longer reflects who you are. Say it out loud, write it down and then make it real. Choose one thing to redefine. Ask yourself if I was starting from scratch, what would I build differently this time? This is your freedom question. It opens the door to reinvention, not just recovery. Right, then I want you to create your. This is a bonus. I want you to create your new success statement right. Three to five sentence declarations. That starts with success.

Speaker 1: 35:38

In this season looks like blank. Be bold, be specific, make it yours, put it on your wall, your phone, your mirror, speak it until you believe it. Why does this matter? Because when you rebuild without redefining, we repeat the same stuff, but when you rebuild with clarity, intention and alignment, we create a life that's not only sustainable, it's sacred. We coming into the home stretch, I want you to think that your bounce back is bigger than you. So let me speak to your soul for a minute. Your bounce back it's not just for you. It's for the version of you who once felt forgotten. It's for the people watching you, even in silence. It's for your sister, your brother, your co-worker, your student, your child, your tribe, who just needs proof that rising is possible.

Speaker 1: 36:50

There was a season when I thought that nobody saw my struggle, felt my struggle, any other thing. I was trying to heal in private, trying to keep things together in public and wondering if, at the end of the day, if any of it really mattered. But looking back, I see how my decision to get back up, even when it wasn't pretty, was planting seeds for someone else. Sometimes your courage becomes someone else's clarity. Sometimes your healing journey unlocks healing for a friend you don't even know is watching or even dealing with something.

Speaker 1: 37:28

We live in a world where everybody wants to showcase the glow up, but real change that comes in the comeback story, not the one that skip steps, the one that tells the truth. And here's the real someone's survival guide is being written every time you choose to keep going. That's purpose and that's power, right? So for me, I know I'm watched a lot by people because I'm told that, and so for me, I always feel like everybody views me as this person of such strength and resilience and all the things, and I would like to believe that I do. I am a person of strength and I am a person who is very resilient, but at the same time, I think what comes with that is that, because there's this idea that you have all this strength and you're so resilient that you don't deal with things and that you don't have struggles and that you don't have problems and that there's no way humanly possible she could be dealing with that. Yes, she can trust me, right.

Speaker 1: 38:32

So that saying that we say check on your strong friends. Please check on your strong friends, because your strong friends going through it and a lot of times, because if you are the go to person for everybody, you're the problem solver for everybody. Sometimes it's a struggle to lean on people, because people are always leaning on you, and so it's important for you to check on your strong friends to help them through their bounce back. So one of the things that you can always do is turn your story into service. Your bounce back is sacred and there's strength in sharing that, not from a place of perfection, but from a place of power and process. That's why I do this podcast right.

Speaker 1: 39:13

I talk about hashtag the authentic life, because I promise you it is so important to be you, it is so important to live authentically as yourself, it is so important to show up in spaces and take up space as you, and if people can't accept it, just kick them to the curb, tell them to kick socks with no rocks I mean, tell them to kick rocks with no socks and keep it going right. And so sometimes, sharing your story and sharing what you have experienced and what you have gone through, let somebody else know that, one, they're not alone. But two, it is possible to move past that stuff right and you can start small share about one bounce back moment with somebody you trust. Talk about what you're learning, not just what you overcame, but what you learned. Be willing to be seen not just for who you are but for who you're becoming. Then you know, if you wanted to, you could take that thing a little deeper and start a bounce back circle with two to three people where y'all check in with each other on a regular basis, y'all hosting journal nights or releasing reset sessions, where y'all are going to talk about what you're letting go of and supporting each other. You know, maybe use social media for intentional posts. That speaks to people.

Speaker 1: 40:28

However you choose to kind of share your story, do that. You know there's a reflection. Today I'm proud of myself for whatever, even if it's just getting out of bed, answering the email or not. Spiraling today, you know, for some of us not spiraling is. It was a good day, right? Depending on what you're dealing with, especially, you know, depending on work environments we are and then create a legacy reminder, ask yourself what do I want my bounce back to teach other people? Then write it out and then turn it into a mission, frame it and keep it somewhere visible.

Speaker 1: 41:03

Your bounce back becomes part of who you are. It becomes part of your legacy, your love language to the next woman, man or young person trying to find their way back to themselves. Right, you weren't meant to stay in the valley, but you also weren't meant to forget it. Your bounce back will always be a part of your becoming, and that is the gift, not just to you, but to everybody around you. So, when you think about your bounce back and the importance of bouncing back, think about those people that are watching you, those people that are around you, and your bounce back is bigger, right? Especially people that you may have confided in and that really do feel like, hey, I hope I wish she wasn't dealing with this, I hope I wish she was making you know different choices and let them see that, hey, you can bounce back and you did bounce back and having those conversations.

Speaker 1: 41:59

I think when you work through bouncing back from something bouncing back from a lack of self-love or bouncing back from a lack of self-worth or bouncing back from self-sabotage you know it's important for you to share that and to let people see that you are capable of bouncing back, because it's not easy. It's not always easy to bounce back from things. Sometimes it takes time, it takes longer time, it takes more time than it was to get into the hole, to get out the hole right. So really getting to a place of understanding that you're not, like I said, you're not meant to stay in the valley, but you can't forget it either. You know what are the lessons that you've learned by dealing with what you're dealing with and going through what you've gone through, and then how can you help other people.

Speaker 1: 42:56

I think the other thing is, when you do go through all of that, it does put you, put you in a position to have a different perspective on things, right? I think when people go through things at least for me I will say some of the things that I've experienced in my life, past and present definitely puts me in a place of being probably more understanding, definitely puts me in a place of being probably more understanding, more empathetic, have a different perspective. When other people are sharing similar stories, I'm not so quick to jump to the girl. You shouldn't, or I would have, I would never. I'm not so quick to jump to that place anymore because I've had my own experiences where really thinking about who I am, what I stand for, who I am as a woman, all of those things. There are things that I have experienced that I felt like I would never experience, that I would never deal with that. I would, you know, walk away from sooner all the things, and I have dealt with them, even in the place of feeling like I would never. And so it definitely has given me a different perspective.

Speaker 1: 44:12

And so I think, with that bounce back when you're thinking about sharing that and that, the bounce back is bigger than you. It's also about that self-reflection. We're going to always go back and thinking about emotional intelligence, that self-reflection piece, and really being self-aware of how things impact us and how does that impact how we interact and engage with people? Because, again, sometimes your courage is definitely somebody else's clarity and your healing can unlock healing for somebody else, and so you know what are your lessons learned and then how do you share that out? We are done and we went a little deep today and, if you're still with me, I want you to pause and take a breath, inhale the truth that you can recover, exhale the lie that you're too far gone, because the truth is, your bounce back doesn't require permission, it requires decision and the moment you choose to press play on this episode. That was the part of the bounce back, that was part of the shift, that was part of your healing.

Speaker 1: 45:23

You don't have to come back perfect. You just have to come back present One choice, one breath, one honest moment of time. Every time you get up, even shakily, you're writing your story. Every time you speak life over yourself, you're building your future. And every time you show up fully flaws and all, you're giving someone else permission to do the same. So here's what I want you to remember as you walk away from this episode your bounce back is personal, but it's also purposeful. Your healing is happening, even if no one sees it, and your comeback will always be greater than your setback if you let it. And your comeback will always be greater than your setback if you let it.

Speaker 1: 45:59

If this episode blessed you, tag me at Podcasting with Keisha or the Authentic Life Inc. On Instagram, use the hashtag hashtag the Bounce Back Life so you can celebrate your journey, so I can celebrate your journey with you. If you feel like this was something that touched you, share with someone who's in their own bounce back season, because we rise better together. So keep on. We're going to keep unpacking things, we're going to keep moving this thing forward, but peace, love and blessings from your girl, keisha.

Speaker 1: 46:35

Well, folks, the episode has come to an end. Thank you for hanging out with me on the Authentic Life. Well, folks, the episode has come to an end. Thank you for hanging out with me on the Authentic Life. If you love today's episode, don't forget to subscribe, because subscribing it's just like an instant invite to more fun, to more inspiration and to more authentic vibes. I could also use a review, so leave a review or share this with someone that you feel needs a little inspiration. But whatever you do, let's spread the joy of the authentic life. Remember this your authentic self is your greatest gift to the world, and no one should ever make you feel like you aren't. Until next time, stay true, stay bold and keep living the authentic life. Peace, love and blessings from your girl, keisha.