Because I am — completely, utterly, and irrevocably tired of living in fear of living. That’s all fear really is the illusion that something outside of us is more powerful than the force breathing through us.
This morning, while reflecting on my 2026 word of the year, I came across a quote by Paulo Coelho that stopped me in my tracks:
“Never allow waiting to be a habit. Live your dreams and take risks. Life is happening now.”
I don’t know about you, but I am in a season where I feel life hurling through my veins more intensely than ever before. It’s like my soul knows the clock is ticking — that it’s now or never. And if I stay stuck in the “how,” the “I don’t know the right people,” the “I’m not in the right country,” and all the other tired excuses… I’ll never do anything of substance with this one precious life.
Recently, I added a new rule to my personal life code:
“If I don’t choose how to spend the time, I have left… it would be a shame.”
Because time is not just time. Time is your life.
Be mindful of where you spend it. Be mindful of what you buy with your money — especially when you are exchanging hours of your life to earn that money. None of this is about punishment or deprivation. It’s about awareness. Reverence. Remembering that nothing is more precious than our life, yet we rarely sit still long enough to truly think it through.
Whether you believe in God or not, you know that everything manmade was created with intention and purpose. So how could you be any different?
For 2026, the word of the year I chose is SOVEREIGN — and I can already feel it testing me. That test put fear in my belly last night. I even lost sleep over it, and I felt disgusted with myself for a moment. But choosing sovereignty means choosing honesty. I’m asking myself:
Am I willing to accept the outcome, whatever it is — even if it leads me somewhere completely new?
And the answer is: Yes. I am willing.
In Unfuk Yourself*, Gary John Bishop writes:
“Either you control your destiny, or your destiny will control you. Life won’t stop for your pauses and procrastinations… That’s why one of the first personal assertions I teach is: ‘I am willing.’”
But before you can declare “I am willing,” you must ask,
“Am I willing?”
It’s a question that demands truth.
It won’t let you hide.
It insists on an answer.
So here I am, asking myself the real question:
Am I willing to never allow myself to be in this place again?
And right above my desk is the quote I keep returning to:
“Never allow waiting to be a habit, live your dreams and take risks. Life is happening now.”
I read it over and over because I refuse to live the rest of my life half-alive. I desire a life lived full-out. A life of sovereignty. A life of courage. And I am so damn tired of being scared.
How about you?
Salima
Just me thinking out loud over here