Stop letting people tell you that you gotta fake it til you make it.

...because YOU DON'T have to do that, sis. There is nothing cute or praise worthy about faking anything.

Listen, I get it. Life will suck the happy right out of you. As a matter of fact, it will suck YOU out of your life.

Anger, sorrow, grief, guilt, shame, feelings of abandonment and rejection -- all of that will eat away at your capacity to live a good life if you don't process those feelings and emotions.

And just in case you're wondering, processing does not involve sweeping things under the rug and pretending like they don't exist.

I KNOW that it takes an immense amount of strength and courage to live life without the mask, but

it's time to look YOU in the face and say, "girl, it’s time to heal all the sh*t you’re not talking about".

I'm not side-eyeing or judging you. I'm simply saying, stop faking it and do the work, because being strong is not about hiding behind a facade. It's being bold enough to shine a light on your truth and stand it.

 

Being strong is about having the courage to live life without the mask!

 

And that's what we're talking about in this week's episode. We're digging deep into all the things Black Women hide behind that BIG HAPPY SMILE.

Natty and I go all in on how our smiles were often used to mask what we were feeling and how the same is true for so many of us.

If you're reading this you're probably guilty of using your smile as a defense mechanism, using it to hide the real you.

As Black women our smiles are often used to hide how dead we're feeling inside...

You know the whole, “ I smile keep from crying thing”?

Yeah, that!

Our smiles mask all of our STUFF – the childhood trauma, the self-loathing, the lack of worthiness, the pain and shame of broken relationships, the feelings of not being enough...

And I'd be willing to bet that all that hiding and masking started in childhood, right?

Press play on this episode to find out how you can finally live your life without the mask.

And if you need support as you begin to unmask and unpack, we have a visualization meditation that we would love to gift to you.  You can grab it HERE. 

If you need to talk through some things, we're here for that too. So, head over to  Shades of Strong and leave us a voice message and we'll reach out to set up a time to chat.

AND be sure to head  on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, or INSTAGRAM @shadesofstrong and join the conversation by leaving us a comment or tweet on this week’s episode.  If you’re tweeting with us, be sure to use the hashtag #shadesofstrong. Happy listening, sis!

 

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