This morning I had the absolute pleasure of being interviewed by the wonderful Lucia Pollard on her beautiful show, The Light Within, on Radio Cape Pulpit.
The title of the show couldn’t have been more perfectly aligned with the Reclaim Your Light Accelerator I just launched on Skool.
We spoke about living your light, burnout, self-trust, forgiveness, everyday miracles, gratitude, purpose and trusting God with the next chapter of your life.
It was one of those conversations where you start answering one question and suddenly discover there are five other things underneath it.
The Light Within
My Interview with Lucia Pollard on Radio Cape Pulpit
What does it mean to live your light?
For me, living your light is about remembering who you really are.
I grew up as a Presbyterian minister’s daughter, so faith has been part of my story from childhood. And over the years, my work has taken many different forms: massage therapist, energy healer, coach, author and podcaster.
Looking back, I can see that there has always been one common thread.
Helping people remember the light within them.
I believe we were born with that light.
We were born worthy.
We were born loving.
We were born with joy.
We were born with the capacity for peace, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control.
The work isn’t necessarily about becoming something we aren’t.
Sometimes it’s about remembering what was already there.
The light is tested when life gets difficult
One of the things that came up in our conversation was forgiveness.
It’s easy to be loving and joyful when we’re surrounded by people who are loving and joyful.
But what happens when someone hurts us?
What happens when someone does something we believe is unforgivable?
That’s where living your light becomes much more challenging.
For me, forgiveness means looking beyond the behaviour and remembering that there is still a light within that person.
That doesn’t mean pretending that wrongdoing didn’t happen or that boundaries aren’t important.
It means refusing to allow someone else’s actions to determine who I become.
As I said to Lucia:
“Being the light is actually seeing the light in that person, no matter what they have done.”
That’s a big ask sometimes.
But perhaps that’s exactly why it’s called living your light rather than simply talking about it.
You are the light of the world
We also talked about the Christian understanding of the light within us.
One of the verses that has always resonated deeply with me is Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount:
“You are the light of the world.”
Not you might become the light.
Not one day, when you’ve got yourself together, you can be the light.
You are the light.
And when Jesus ascended to heaven, He promised that the Holy Spirit would reside within us.
That gives me a very different perspective on self-worth.
We don’t have to earn our worthiness.
God placed something beautiful within us from the beginning.
Our everyday task is simply to remember.
Burnout: when the things you love stop lighting you up
Lucia asked me about burnout, and I shared from personal experience.
When I burned out, I didn’t recognise myself.
There was deep fatigue, mood swings, irritability, depression, physical symptoms, migraines, back pain and sciatica.
But perhaps the biggest warning sign was this:
I had stopped enjoying the thing I loved doing.
At the time, I was working as a massage therapist and was doing it very, very full time.
I loved serving my clients.
But I had overdone it to the point where my body, mind and spirit simply couldn’t keep up anymore.
That’s one of the distinctions I would make between ordinary tiredness and burnout.
You can be tired today and feel better tomorrow.
Burnout is different.
It’s a deeper, chronic exhaustion.
It’s waking up tired.
Struggling to sleep.
Feeling depleted in your soul.
And sometimes the clearest sign is that the things that normally bring you joy don’t bring you joy anymore.
The light has started to dim.
Related: EFT Tapping to Relieve Burnout
Coming back to yourself
So how do you begin to recover if you’ve spent years putting everybody else’s needs before your own?
I don’t think you necessarily start with some enormous life overhaul.
You start very small.
If you’ve spent years over-giving and over-delivering, you almost have to re-learn how to receive.
Start with your morning cup of tea or coffee.
Don’t drink it while scrolling through your phone.
Taste it.
Smell it.
Feel the warmth of the cup.
Be there.
When you’re walking, put the headphones away for a few minutes and listen to the birds.
Notice the flowers.
Listen to the wind.
Listen to the sea.
Savour. Slow down. Marvel.
And start remembering what lights you up.
One of the exercises I suggested is simply taking a piece of paper and writing down all the things that used to make you happy.
Because sometimes, when we’ve been busy taking care of everyone else, we’ve actually forgotten.
Maybe it’s dancing in the lounge.
Maybe it’s music.
Maybe it’s painting.
Maybe it’s being in nature.
Maybe it’s laughing with friends.
For me, music is huge, so I created myself a Get Happy playlist.
It has apparently been played more than 2,000 times.
I’m fairly certain most of those listens were me.
And that’s okay.
Sometimes you have to become your own DJ for joy.
Why don’t we trust ourselves?
We also talked about confidence and self-trust.
Why do so many of us struggle to believe in ourselves?
I believe a lot of it comes down to the meanings we made about ourselves when we were young.
We are, in many ways, meaning-making machines.
Something happens.
We interpret it.
And then we can carry that interpretation with us for years.
Maybe a teacher told you that you’d never amount to anything.
Maybe someone made you feel that you weren’t clever enough, pretty enough, successful enough or worthy enough.
And eventually, the voices of the people from our childhood can become voices inside our own heads.
But here’s the beautiful thing:
We get to choose a new meaning.
We can question the old story.
We can reframe it.
We can decide that what happened to us doesn’t get to determine what happens next.
We can decide:
I am worthy.
I am deserving.
I can do this.
Calling in everyday miracles
Then Lucia asked me about one of my favourite subjects: everyday miracles.
Miracles Are Normal (the bestselling book I co-authored) is part of that story, as is my podcast Believe in Miracles.
When we hear the word miracle, we often think of something spectacular.
A dramatic healing.
Water being turned into wine.
Someone being raised from the dead.
But I believe miracles can be much quieter than that.
A conversation that happens at exactly the right moment.
A door that opens unexpectedly.
A person who arrives in your life when you need them.
A sudden shift inside yourself.
A moment of synchronicity.
A beautiful morning.
A healing that happens slowly enough that you almost don’t notice it happening.
The first step, I believe, is to notice.
Notice what is already happening.
Believe that miracles are possible.
And practise gratitude for what you already have.
Gratitude changes what we notice
I shared an idea from The Magic, where gratitude becomes a daily practice.
You can even take a walk and simply say:
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Or go on a gratitude rampage and start noticing the things we usually take completely for granted.
Water.
Breathing.
Our heartbeat.
The ability to see.
The ability to hear.
A roof over our heads.
Food on our plates.
The people we love.
The more we notice, the more we realise how much is already here.
And perhaps that’s one of the greatest miracles of all.
We are often surrounded by blessings that we’ve simply stopped seeing.
My message
Right at the end of the interview, Lucia asked me what message I would leave with listeners.
The words that came to me were:
“Be still and know that I am God.”
If you have questions about your life, your purpose or what comes next, sometimes the answer isn’t to try harder.
Sometimes it’s to get quiet.
Be still.
Find the light within.
Be grateful.
Slow down.
Go outside.
Marvel at life.
Dance.
Love.
Hug people.
Notice the good.
And trust.
My dad had a beautiful saying that he repeated often:
“Everything’s going to work out in the end.”
I’ve carried those words with me.
Because life has seasons.
Some seasons are painful.
Some are confusing.
Some feel like everything has fallen apart.
But seasons change.
And if you’re in a difficult season right now, I hope you can remember that this is not the whole story.
There is still light.
There is still purpose.
There is still joy.
There is still possibility.
And miracles abound. If you notice. And believe.
I’m incredibly grateful to Lucia Pollard and Radio Cape Pulpit for inviting me onto The Light Within and giving me the opportunity to share this message.
Lucia was such a warm and thoughtful interviewer, and I loved the way our conversation unfolded.
She also said something at the end that touched me deeply:
“You just radiate this light and positivity within you.”
I’ll treasure that. Because that’s my mission, to fill the world with more love, light, joy and peace.
And help people remember that they are the light.
Ready to Reclaim Your Light?
If you’re in a season of change, self-doubt, burnout or reinvention and you know there’s more for you, I’d love to connect.
Book a Reclaim Your Light Call with me and let’s explore what’s possible for YOU, beautiful you.
