What insecurity taught me when I finally listened

When you are in pursuit of something new or different, insecurity shows up and it shows up again and again…
Not loud. Not sudden. Just enough to make me second guess myself.
It whispered:
“Are you sure with what you are doing?”
“Did you make the right decision?”
“What if you mess this up?”

And for a moment, I felt the familiar urge:
To shrink.
To perform.
To pretend I didn’t hear it.

But this time… I didn’t push it away.

I let insecurity sit with me.
Not to take over but to speak.
I welcomed it with open arms. Not because it was comfortable,
but because I was tired of fighting parts of myself that simply wanted to be understood.

And something unexpected happened.

When I stopped resisting the insecurity, it softened.
It revealed its roots, the old stories I had been carrying, and the parts of me that still wanted to feel safe, loved, and seen.

It didn’t weaken me.
It woke me up.

It asked me to slow down, to re-center, to trust who I’m becoming.
It reminded me that courage isn’t about never doubting; it’s about moving anyway, with softness, with truth, and with your whole self.

Insecurity didn’t break me.
It broke me open.
And in doing so, it brought out the best in me.