The Ten-Year Fog

You know that saying about how you don’t realize you’re stuck until you’re finally free? Or the idea that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, and you wonder why that is? Lately, I’ve been sitting with how true both of those feel.

Here’s my confession: I think I’ve been stuck for at least the last ten years.

Before that sounds ungrateful, let me be clear. My life has been beautiful. I’m deeply thankful for everything I’ve lived through, because every experience shaped who I am today. There has been joy, growth, and lessons I truly needed.

But underneath all of that, I was running on a hamster wheel.

I was chasing things I thought mattered: the right career moves, impressive titles, and validation from people whose opinions carried far too much weight. I kept running, convinced that if I just reached the next milestone, I would finally feel settled.

Maybe I only see it clearly now because I caught what I was chasing. Or maybe this is the part that keeps me up at night, what I caught showed me it was never worth the chase in the first place.

What Success Actually Looks Like

Ask me today what success means, and my answer is simple: raising happy, healthy, resilient children with hearts that seek goodness and truth.

That’s it.

I honestly don’t care what title appears on my business card or LinkedIn profile anymore. As long as I can provide for my family and be present for them, I’m content. The dream now is being a calm, emotionally regulated mom who can meet her kids where they are. Not the corner office. Not the promotion. Not the recognition.

But here’s the thing about chaos. When you’re surrounded by it, you can’t think clearly.

For ten years, I was constantly putting out fires, navigating drama, managing family conflict, and surviving the day to day. I didn’t have the space to step back and ask the most important question of all: what actually matters?

You can’t see the forest when you’re busy dodging falling trees.

The Peace That Changed Everything

When I received a work promotion that brought us back to Canada, something shifted immediately. And I mean immediately.

My husband and I talk about it often. The energy in our home is different now. Peaceful. Calm. Like we can finally breathe. We have joy again, not because life suddenly became perfect, but because we finally have the mental and emotional space to focus on what we want our life to be about.

So here’s what I want to gently ask you to consider: what environment are you keeping?

Look at your daily life, the people, the commitments, the noise, the pace. Is it keeping you stuck, trapped in survival mode and too overwhelmed to think clearly? Or does it give you room to breathe, reflect, and choose what truly matters to you?

Sometimes we stay in chaos because it’s familiar. Because leaving feels impossible. Because we don’t even realize there’s another option.

I’m a Christian, and I know not everyone reading this shares that faith, and that’s okay. But I want to be honest about what grounds me. My faith gives me a framework that helps me sort through the noise.

Here’s how I see it. If God is real, then living according to His principles is the most important thing I can do. And if I’m wrong, those same principles have still shaped me into a better person, a better mom, and a better wife. They’ve pointed me toward patience, humility, love, and purpose.

Either way, it’s a win for my family.

I don’t have everything figured out. Not even close. But I do know this: peace revealed what chaos had hidden. Clarity came when I finally stopped running.

As we go into the new year, If you’re feeling stuck, maybe it’s time to ask yourself, gently and without judgment, what’s keeping you there. Is your environment helping you see clearly? Or is it keeping you too busy, too stressed, too overwhelmed to even know what you truly want?

You deserve more than the hamster wheel. You deserve to know what you’re running toward and to decide whether it’s worth the race.

Happy New Year! Thank you so much for your support this past year. Wishing you and your loved ones an abundance of joy, health, and blessings in the year ahead.