ChatGPT said:

Friends, I hope you enjoy this episode of my podcast, Healing Lab, now streaming on Apple and Spotify. If there’s a topic on your heart or a question you’d like me to explore, I’d love to hear from you.

But before you press play, here’s a message from my heart to yours:

You are seen. You are loved. You are enough. You are worthy.Your life is a blessing—whether you feel that today or not.

Take a breath and let that land.

When “Stuck” Starts to Spill Over

Let’s talk about feeling stuck.

Stuck in your job.Stuck in your marriage or relationships.Stuck in your own mind and body.

“Stuck” rarely stays in just one area. It begins as a quiet gnawing—self-angst, mild frustration—and then starts to bleed into everything else: your sleep, your mood, your body, your patience, your hope.

We often think we’re stuck because of a circumstance: the job, the relationship, the system, the person.But most of the time, we’re stuck because we’re trying to force something—or someone.

Force is that little voice that says:

* “They have to see it my way.”

* “I just need them to understand what they did.”

* “If I keep telling the story, eventually everyone will take my side.”

It feels like power. It feels like self-protection. But it’s actually the opposite.

One of the most profound lines from the Tao Te Ching (a text I return to constantly) is this:

The wise warrior avoids the battle.

At first, that sounds weak. Avoid the battle? Don’t we need to fight for what’s right, fight for justice, fight for our truth?

But the older I get, the more I practice integrative medicine, the more I sit with people in emotional and physical pain, the more I see this:

Most of us are not in a holy battle for justice.We’re in a private war to prove we’re right.

Power Divides. Influence Unites.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks once said:

Power divides; influence unites.

Look around: socially, politically, economically—we are drowning in power plays.Power over gender. Power over class. Power over age. Power over identity.

So we pick sides.We “campaign” for people to agree with us.We collect allies at work, in our group chats, and on social media to validate our narrative.

You know that coworker who always wants you to take their side? The friend whose breakup became a full-time campaign to prove how awful their ex is? The person who can’t let go of being “right” in every story?

If we’re honest, many of us have been that person too.

Here’s the problem: you cannot heal while you are obsessed with being right.

Because healing is inherently unifying.

The fastest way to know if you’re moving toward healing is simple:

* Does this thought, post, conversation, or behavior unite or divide?

* Does it soften hearts—or harden them?

* Does it invite people to the table—or push them away?

If your energy is consistently dividing, you’re not on the path of healing—no matter how correct your argument is.

Hustle Culture, Technology, and Why You Feel So Deficient

Let’s add another layer: modern life.

For a decade we were sold hustle culture:Side hustles, “optimize every hour,” sleep when you’re dead, be everything to everyone.

We were never wired for that.

We don’t ask a chef to be the host, the bartender, and the dishwasher. We want them focused on what they do best: cooking.

You are no different, my beauties.

Then we added technology—multiple devices, hundreds of apps, endless notifications—under the false promise that it would make us more productive and “optimized.”

Instead, it quietly eroded our self-esteem:

* We feel we’re never doing enough.

* We compare our behind-the-scenes to everyone else’s highlight reel.

* We receive 25 inputs before 9 a.m.—texts, emails, headlines, DMs—and wonder why we can’t focus.

I genuinely believe most people who think they have “attention deficit” are simply living in a world that doesn’t honor human attention. Your nervous system is overwhelmed. Of course you feel deficient.

Now layer on childhood trauma, relational wounds, existential questions that wake up in your 30s and 40s, body changes, hormonal shifts (hello perimenopause)…

Of course you feel stuck. Of course you’re exhausted. Of course you feel like you’re driving the Indy 500 in a minivan and being asked to win.

Your Body Is a Manifestation of Your Mind

As someone who sits at the intersection of Eastern philosophy, Western medicine, and integrative health, I need you to hear this:

Your body is a physical manifestation of your mind.

Sometimes the brain truly needs support—a vitamin D deficiency, no nutrient density in our soil, ultra-processed foods, disrupted hormones, cognitive decline, or yes, targeted pharmaceutical help.

I am not anti-medication. Supplements, prescriptions, nutraceuticals—all of these are forms of intervention, and they can be life-changing.

But none of them can override a mind and spirit that refuse to look at the root.

You cannot biohack your way out of a life you’re unwilling to examine.

If your days are spent:

* Raging on social media

* Participating in an “economy of fear”

* Feeding algorithms that thrive on division

* Constantly retelling stories where you are the victim and someone else is the villain

…no supplement, peptide, cleanse, lab test, or workout plan is going to bring you true peace.

Shame, Apathy, and Why So Many People Feel Fragile

In kinesiology and emotional medicine, two of the weakest emotional states for the immune system are shame and apathy.

It makes sense, doesn’t it?

We live in a culture that:

* Shames you for your body

* Shames you for your beliefs

* Shames you for not performing enough, posting enough, optimizing enough

The person who feels ashamed eventually stops caring.

They stop voting.They stop participating.They stop taking care of their body.They stop believing their life matters.

That’s apathy. And apathy is a quiet form of death.

So when you participate in shaming others—publicly or privately—or constantly demand that people “pick a side,” you’re not just winning an argument. You’re contributing to a culture that weakens souls and bodies.

This includes how you talk to yourself.

Your Story Is Sacred—But It’s Not the Point

Let me say something that may sting:

Your story, as painful and real as it is, is not the most important thing about you.

What happened to you matters.Who hurt you matters.But it is not the axis on which your entire life must continue to turn.

I say this as someone who has:

* Survived childhood abuse

* Struggled with addiction

* Been broke and deeply ashamed

* Hit 250 pounds and hated my body

* Felt like a late bloomer, like I didn’t fit in anywhere

I used to be very talented at building a case for why everything was everyone else’s fault. I could lawyer my victim story so well that even I believed it.

It didn’t free me. It broke me.

Here is the hard, holy truth:

If in the present you have an opportunity to choose a different path—to be a unifier instead of a divider—and you refuse, that is no longer about what they did. That is now about who you are choosing to be.

You can’t demand change and still insist on staying the same.

Focus on What’s Right, Not on Being Right

So what does this look like in real life?

It looks like:

* Stopping the campaign.Stop trying to get everyone to take your side in that conflict.

* Choosing not to engage.You’re allowed to say, “This has not been productive. Until we can find a better path to understanding, I’m not engaging.”

* Letting go of “fair.”Constantly calculating what’s “fair” in a relationship is scarcity thinking. Collaboration sounds more like: “How do we design this so we both feel nourished?”

* Telling personal stories, not proclamations.If you must post or speak, start with: “In my experience…” Instead of shaming people into caring, invite them into your lived reality.

* Doing small things that are simply right.Hold doors. Put the shopping cart back. Treat housekeeping like humans, not invisible staff. Ask people how you can help.These seem small, but people of true power and influence behave this way. Their generosity is not just financial; it’s energetic.

When you focus on what is right instead of being right, your whole nervous system changes. Your relationships shift. Your body softens. The stuckness loosens.

Everything you say you want—peace, health, deeper love, financial abundance, meaningful work—is on the other side of that shift.

When You Change, Not Everyone Comes With You

One more truth I need to name:When you start living from your highest self, it can get lonely.

You will quickly see:

* Who is an ally in your growth—and who prefers you small.

* Who liked the version of you that overeats, overdrinks, stays bitter, and sits on the couch.

* Who feels threatened when you heal.

That might be a friend.It might be your partner.It might be family.

You do not need to blow up your life overnight, but you do need to stop begging people to be what they have no intention of becoming.

Bless them.Maneuver around them with grace.Build community with those who are moving toward wholeness with you.

The deeper grief is not losing people.The deeper grief is abandoning yourself to keep them.

A Simple Daily Question

So today, instead of asking, “How do I prove I’m right?”Try asking:

What is the most unifying, truthful, and kind thing I can do in this situation?

If it doesn’t unify, if it isn’t rooted in kindness, if it is more about ego than healing—it’s not your path.

The wise warrior avoids the battle.Not because they are weak, but because they know where their real power lives.

And as always, my dear ones:

You are seen.You are loved.You are enough.You are worthy.

If this resonates with you, share it with someone who’s tired of fighting and ready to heal. 💛

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodhopealissa.substack.com