I said it out loud the other day, quietly, to myself, like a mantra:
“I voluntarily assume the appropriate karma.”
And I meant it. Deeply. Completely.
That phrase has been living in me for a while now quietly affirming that I’m not a victim of circumstance, but a participant in a deeper soul contract that says: I am here for the lessons, the growth, the reckoning. I know that I’ve chosen this path — this visibility, this advocacy, this constant evolution.
But even with that knowing, there are moments — heavy, breathless moments — where I struggle to breathe. Not because of my asthma, but because of anxiety.
The weight of showing up as your full self in a world still learning how to receive you is immense.
Some days, my body is screaming. Tired. Aching. Inflamed.
Not just from overworking, but from overfeeling. From absorbing too much, too often, without enough time to exhale.
And yet simultaneously there’s this euphoria.
A spiritual high that comes from doing work that aligns with my mission. It’s electric. It’s ancestral. It’s divine.
That duality is wild!
To feel exhausted and exalted at the same time.
To feel like the only thing keeping you going is the very thing that’s draining you.
Which is why I’ve never felt more clarity about this truth:
I have to protect my energy like my life — and my purpose — depends on it. Because it does.
I’m no longer available for anything that leaks more than it pours.
I’m no longer waiting for a “crash” to justify my rest. And I’m certainly not apologizing for boundaries that preserve my brilliance.
If you’re someone who feels this too, if you’re holding sacred space for others, for movements, for transformation I see you and you’re definitely not alone.
Honor your body. Honor your breath. Honor your karma.
Above all, honor your energy sovereignty — that sacred right to regulate your output, to choose peace, and to receive as much as you give.
Love,
Angelica Ross