09/03/2026
𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐫𝐞-𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐬... 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝. 💥
Read that again.
Because this is what happens so often in life:
You do the inner work.
You become more aware.
You shift patterns.
You catch old beliefs.
You respond more consciously.
And then one day, usually when you are tired, exhausted, overwhelmed or stretched too thin, an old reaction pops up again.
The old inner dialogue.
The old belief.
The old emotional pattern.
The old protective mechanism.
The old machinery.
And suddenly you think:
“𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤? 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬.”
“𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤?”
“𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐈 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥?”
But maybe that is the wrong conclusion.
Because one of the good things about our Being automating things is that we do not have to relearn everything over and over again.
Once you have learned how to drive a car, it becomes automatic.
You do not have to think every second about when to brake, when to indicate or how to switch lanes. (Unfortunately, there are still very bad drivers on the road :( ... )!
I’m sure many of you have had that experience where you are driving along and suddenly wonder:
Hang on... how did I just drive the last few minutes?”
It is like your system took over.
We even have something called muscle memory.
The body remembers.
I noticed that when I went skiing again after many, many years. 🎿
Yes, I was a bit stiff and rusty and probably should have trained beforehand 😄 but the body still remembered.
When I moved to Australia, it took me months and months to retrain my fingers and brain to get used to the English keyboard.
I think it was the Y and the Z that kept tripping me up 😊
And even after living here for decades, I have occasionally still gone to the wrong side of the car, usually when I was tired, not present or running on autopilot.
That really showed me how deeply ingrained certain things can be.
So, is it really any wonder that old habits, beliefs, reactions, and internal dialogue can also stay deeply wired into our system?
Is it really surprising that when we are depleted, stressed or overwhelmed, the old machinery can suddenly re-emerge?
I do not think the issue is that it comes back.
The real issue is:
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬?
Do you beat yourself up?
Do you shame yourself for not being “further along”?
Do you make it mean all your growth was fake?
Or do you simply notice:
“𝐎𝐡... 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧.”
𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞.
𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬.
𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬.
𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭.
𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞.
𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝.
𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭.
𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠.
𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞.
Because growth does not mean you never get triggered again.
Growth means you notice it faster.
You recover quicker. You respond more consciously. You stop handing the steering wheel back to the old machinery.
When I went to the wrong side of the car, I obviously did not sit there trying to drive from the passenger seat 😂
I just noticed it, corrected myself, got in properly, and drove to my destination.
Maybe that is the lesson.
𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭.
You simply notice.
You correct.
You realign.
And you keep moving forward. ✨
That is growth.
That is awareness.
That is authenticity.
That is response-ability.