Blog 35: The Room, The Mirror, and the Voice Within

Stepping Into the Room

This week, I found myself sitting in a room I had once prayed to be in. You know those moments where you walk in smiling, heart racing, excitement buzzing beneath your skin, only for that sneaky inner voice to whisper, “Are you sure you belong here?”

That was me. On Tuesday, I was thrilled, proud, and prepared, yet halfway through, my old self-sabotaging tendencies showed up like uninvited guests. They whispered that I wasn’t worthy, that my essence wasn’t enough, that I didn’t go to university, and that I wasn’t running a wildly successful company. Those thoughts came hard and fast. And the worst part? I almost believed them.

The Mirror Talks Back

I must’ve gone to the bathroom three or four times, not to escape the room, but to find myself again. Each time, I looked into the mirror and whispered, “Hey, crazy, you belong here. Don’t doubt that. Not even for a second.”

There’s something sacred about meeting your own gaze and choosing kindness over criticism. It’s the smallest form of courage, the kind that begins in secret and builds in silence. Later that week, my manager turned to me and said, “They were lucky to have you there.” I cried, not because it was dramatic or profound, but because it was the affirmation I didn’t know I was waiting for.

“Do you think I can really do this?” I asked.
Without hesitation, he said, “Yes.”

That “yes” didn’t fix everything, but it soothed something in me. It stitched up a tear I’d been carrying for years, the one that told me I wasn’t enough to take up space.

The Girl on the Veranda

When I was younger, I used to sit on the veranda with my friends, spending hours debating everything under the sun. I loved it, the fire, the exchange, the laughter between ideas. But over time, I realized people often walked away, tired of the argument rather than engaged in the dialogue. I didn’t like that.

So I grew quieter. Life happened, moments layered on moments, and the silence began to feel safe. Somewhere along the way, I lost my voice. Not the sound of it, but the trust in it.

Finding the Woman in the Mirror

Now, in my thirties, that little girl still shows up. Especially in spaces where my opinion actually matters. She still wants to shrink, to blend, to stay quiet because being seen feels terrifying. But the woman I’m becoming, she knows that silence can no longer be my refuge.

This new version of me wants to trust her own voice again. She wants to speak even if her voice trembles. She wants to hold space for others while still standing firmly in her truth. She wants to unlearn the habit of disappearing and replace it with the art of showing up.

Because here’s the truth: self-esteem isn’t about being loud. It’s about being present. It’s the practice of believing that your words have weight, that your existence adds value — even when no one claps.

To Us

To every person still learning to believe in their enough-ness, this one’s for you. To the little girl inside who doubted her place in the room, and the woman now ready to reclaim it, I see you.

The truth is, we all have rooms that test us, mirrors that confront us, and moments that shake us. But the lesson remains: you belong here. You always did.

Here’s to trusting your voice again, to speaking, even when it’s hard, and to never forgetting that your light is not an accident.

✨ To us, the ones learning, unlearning, and beginning again.