Being Chosen

Chosen: A Reflection on Letting Go, Leaning In, and the Power of Community

This season has been a profound time of preparation and realization.

True preparation doesn’t just come with intention; it requires reflection. We need those quiet moments of looking back so that, as we move forward, we can make the course corrections that actually serve us.

At the end of last year, I made a firm decision: this year was going to be different. I promised myself that 2026 would be a year of absolute intentionality. No more excuses. I committed to a laser focus, vowing to muster up whatever strength I needed to reach the goals I had been putting off for far too long.

With that commitment, I knew things had to change—including myself. I could no longer hang onto people, things, ideologies, or patterns that kept me stuck in the same circular, day-to-day ways of being. I simply refused.

So, I poured that fierce intention into my vision board. While this is a ritual I’ve practiced every year for the past decade, I knew this year required a different approach. And it got one.

For the first time ever, I created my vision board with a group of close friends. I had shared this space with my sisters before, but never with anyone outside of them. We actually started planning this gathering back in the spring of 2025. By the time we sat down together in December, the energy was thick with preparation and purpose. I knew deep down that I needed 2026 to be different—exponentially so.

In fact, I had so much vision, clarity, and imagery collected that it couldn’t even fit into one frame. I ended up creating two vision boards.

On one of those boards, I placed a phrase that would become my north star: "Choose people who choose you."

Going into this year, I knew I needed to let go of certain relationships I had been holding onto purely for the sake of history, familial obligation, or basic comfort. In doing so, I hadn’t been considering the things that actually matter: relativity, reciprocity, and authenticity. How many relationships do we cling to that no longer hold these vital qualities, simply because we are afraid to feel alone?

With that realization, I quietly pulled back from connections where I didn’t feel chosen—where the dynamic felt forced, or like a heavy obligation.

Fast forward to today.

I am currently in my third trimester, nesting, preparing, and once again re-evaluating my life. In this deeply tender phase of transition, I have seen with absolute clarity who has truly "chosen" me.

Today, those same women who sat with me in December to plan for 2026 sat with me in my living room to help me prepare for my birth and postpartum journey. In all of my pregnancies, I have never felt so thoroughly supported.

It showed me what it truly feels like to be chosen. It doesn’t feel cumbersome, laborious, or like a burden. Instead, there is a genuine joy, a warmth, and an excitement around wanting to be there for you. Sitting here in my home tonight, I am overwhelmed by an incredible sense of peace, joy, and contentment. These women have walked with me consistently since the very beginning of this pregnancy—and some even before that. Checking on me, praying for me, ensuring I’m eating, and just making sure my soul is good.

I am deeply moved that they would carve time out of their busy schedules and their own families to ensure that my babies and I are loved and covered. What a beautiful feeling it is to be chosen.

Of course, there were those who didn't show up—people I expected to be here, people I reached out to repeatedly with little to no response. And honestly? That is okay. Someone who was a "chosen" person for a past season might not be your chosen person for this one. It is vital to recognize that distinction without bitterness.

Letting go of people and things that no longer value you the way you value them isn't about being petty or harboring an attitude. It’s about alignment. Learning how to guard and protect your heart can feel scary and uncertain, but you are worth it.

You are worth the risk, the reward, and the boundaries. You are valuable, and you deserve to know exactly what it feels like to be chosen—not just once in a while, but all the time.