I would be lying if I said that it didn’t sting. That was part of how I knew it was true. Protective reflexes began to boil up in my body. I wanted to pull within and protect myself. I recognized the urge to protect myself and silently got down on the level of my ego. I looked my ego straight in the eyes and said “you are safe” and went back to listening to her. I didn’t need my ego to shield or protect me. I didn’t need to defend myself. I didn’t need to protect myself. I wasn’t being harmed. I was being helped. I was being supported in my personal growth.

With every comment or statement that stung I filed the words deep in my heart, there was truth to them which is why they stung. I gently placed them in a place where I could revisit them and sit with them. Where I could explore them and understand them better.

You see, she wasn’t trying to hurt me. She had no hidden agenda. If I am being blunt, she actually doesn’t even care about the outcome of my personal growth. She has zero attachment to how or when I grow. It was part of why I knew that her words were like truth serum. She wasn’t talking to me for HER good, she was talking to me for MY good. She is a busy woman with a lot on her plate and she was gifting me a window into myself that I couldn’t see. It is the same window that I hold for other people and I felt grateful that she was holding it for me. I say gifting, yet I paid her to hold this mirror for me. Regardless, she didn’t have to go this deep with me. She could have told me how great I was doing, but how would have that helped me? How would have that made me a better version of myself?

So, it stung and I grew.