Habits for Healing, page 16
I pray you emotionally release and let go of everything that has you stuck in sameness.
I pray you take accountability for the role you play in your own struggle and start rewriting your own story.
I pray you grow to accept what you can’t change and fix what you can.
I pray you forgive yourself for learning some things the hard way.
I pray the things you used to take personally become things you use to become better.
I pray that minding your own business gives you the physical and emotional freedom you need to create a life you love.
I pray you find the courage to set boundaries that secure your peace.
I pray you remember you.
Acknowledgments
My journey to the work I am currently doing in the world started with some of the stories you just read. Those stories inspired lessons I started sharing with friends and family via random emails more than fourteen years ago. Syreena saw value in those lessons, encouraged me to start a blog, and eventually built my first website. I am not sure I’d be an author if she hadn’t lent me her time and talent. Syreena, I am forever grateful for you.
I had a private Instagram account that I used to keep up with my family back home. I would share excerpts from my blog there from time to time. Destiney told me I was “playing small” and introduced me to the world of online influencing. Thank you for your contribution to my journey, Beloved.
Every like, share, comment, and DM from those who share space with me on social media has led to opportunities that have allowed my words to live in the hearts of people from around the world. My books are on shelves in countries I have yet to visit personally. That is a blessing I am still trying to find enough ways to show gratitude for. Thank you for being brave enough to hear hard truths, do hard work, and heal and grow through hard times. May you, my amazing readers, followers, and community, never forget that you are worth healing for.
To write this book, I had to become a version of myself that I never knew existed. Thank you, Kanya, for reminding me that I have always been who I am. To Charity for being a consistent voice in my life. I hear you when I need to extend myself grace and when I need to apply more pressure. Whenever I have reached a new level in my life, your voice was in the background saying things I’d never let you say on speakerphone. I love you like a sister. To Lyn (Ms. Lyn, Dr. Lyn), thank you for seeing me when all I wanted to do was hide. Thank you for trusting me with your story and reading every word of mine during this process. You have been the friend I didn’t know I needed. To Alison, thank you for being an ally and a refreshing source of laughter and joy when I was trying to decide if “this” was something I actually wanted.
To my Sissy, there are no words…You have always been my motivation. To my sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews, and cousins, our layered stories are uniquely divine. Everything I do has your imprint on it. We are all proof that good can come from the hood. I do it all for us.
To my children, thank you for being #teammom while I worked on this book and everything else I do. Your patience, mini celebrations, and presence gave me ease under pressure. Thank you, Chase, for always asking how it was coming along. Thank you, Kai, for listening to me work out chapters and decide on stories. May the things you learn about me in this book provide more context to our relationship. Long before you arrived in the flesh, you were in my heart. I named you, wrote to you, worked to break cycles for you, and started parts of this healing journey for you. May the result be generational healing and positive well-being.
Thank you, Charles, for checking in. Thank you, Yvonne, for every single “Good Morning, Gorgeous” text and for seeing that this was possible when I was still only dreaming of it. Thank you to every mentor and every friend.
To my agent, Trinity McFadden, and her team at The Bindery, thank you for representing me and my voice so well. To my Convergent and Penguin Random House team, thank you for contributing so intently to this work. To my editor, Derek Reed, you saw the vision from the beginning and helped me turn the story of the green string my grandmom tied around my neck into a complete work. Thank you for your prompts for deeper reflection. To Leita Williams for the careful considerations that helped me compose thoughts and harmonize my work. Both you and Derek helped me become a better writer. To Rachel Tockstein and Alisse Goldsmith-Wissman, my incredible marketer and publicist at Convergent, thank you for all the hard work you put into my book’s launch.
To God, thank you for it all. Through every struggle, every goal accomplished, every loss, every mistake, every word written, and every word unspoken, you have remained. Thank you for choosing me to do this work and empowering me to fulfill this call. My answer will forever be “yes.”
To my dad for always reminding me that I could do hard things. We loved hard even through hard times. To my grandmom, whose presence rests on every one of these pages, forever and always. See you in my dreams.
About the Author
Nakeia Homer is a well-being and mental health educator and a self-healing guide. She teaches her own executive education course at the David Eccles School of Business, University of Utah. Through programs, speaking, workshop facilitation, and corporate wellness consulting, she helps people sustain their well-being, operate in their brilliance, and show up in their lives and work as the best versions of themselves. She is the author of I Hope This Helps and All the Right Pieces and the founder of Heal & Grow Daily, a self-healing community and membership program. As a sought-after wellness and well-being expert and trauma-informed educator, Homer facilitates powerful workshops and keynotes on the power of acceptance, self-love/self-care, and purpose.
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Nakeia Homer, Habits for Healing
