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​ *They Always Look Fine… Until They Open Up* I’m learning that some of the strongest people I know are the ones who rarely look like what they are carrying. They smile the brightest, laugh the loudest, show up the most, until one day, in a quiet moment, they finally open up. And you realize… The person who looks put together is fighting battles nobody sees. The one who encourages everyone cries silently at night. The one who always says “I’m fine” has learned how to hide pain like makeup. It’s not pretence , it’s survival. Life didn’t give them the luxury of breaking anyhow. So they mastered the art of holding themselves together even when everything inside them feels like glass. But when they open up,just a little, you hear the exhaustion in their voice, you see the weight behind their eyes, and you realize how much strength it took to simply show up every day. People carry silent wars. People bleed quietly. People smile while holding their hearts in place. So before you judge anyone...

Know yourself for yourself. It sounds simple, but it’s one of the most powerful things you can ever do. I know when my wig no longer matches my face, not because anyone tells me, but because I can see it. I can feel it. I know when I’ve worn a look for too long and it’s time to change things, switch things up, or give myself a fresh start. Sometimes that means getting a new wig. Sometimes it just means fixing my hair. But the point is: I don’t need anyone to remind me of who I am or when it’s time to evolve. In the same way, you shouldn’t wait for people to tell you about yourself. You shouldn’t depend on others to confirm what God has already said about you. People can misread you. People can misunderstand you. People can under or overestimate you. But God doesn’t. And you shouldn’t either. When you know yourself, truly, deeply, you know when a season is over. You know when a mindset no longer fits. You know when a habit is blocking your growth. You know when it’s time to shift, adjus...

I used to shrink whenever someone asked, “So what are you doing now?” Because my answer didn’t sound big enough. It didn’t have the fancy title, the shiny salary, or the Instagram-worthy ring light. So, I’d smile and say something vague, not because I wasn’t growing, but because I felt my progress was too small to be celebrated. Until one day, I realized… growth is growth, even when it’s quiet. That job you’re learning to love, that small business that’s still finding its voice, that habit you’re finally being consistent with, they’re all signs of progress. Don’t let comparison make you ashamed of your journey. And don’t dim your light just because someone else’s looks brighter. You don’t have to be there to be proud of here. Progress doesn’t have to be loud to be real. Sometimes it’s one step forward after two steps back. Sometimes it’s waking up to try again, even when nobody notices. So, clap for yourself, even if no one else does. Your pace is not too slow. Your process is not too ...

Your small beginnings are not a disadvantage. They’re training.  We romanticize big beginnings, but God rarely starts big. He starts with seeds. Seeds that look insignificant. Seeds that require patience. Seeds that test your consistency. The small beginning is where God teaches you discipline. It’s where He builds endurance. It’s where foundations are laid, the kind that can carry real weight later. If you’re in your “small” season, don’t despise it. This is where the version of you that can handle greatness is being formed. What starts small with God never stays small. Temilade Alokan  Light Lamp

You’re not behind.  You’re being built in silence. Keep going.  There’s a certain type of loneliness that comes from feeling out of pace. Like everyone else is arriving at destinations you haven’t even found on the map yet. I know that feeling too well,  the quiet panic that whispers, “You’re late. You’re slow. You’re missing something.” But God revealed something to me in one of my quietest seasons: Construction doesn’t make noise until the structure is ready to stand. Your growth is happening in the unseen places, inside your discipline, inside your patience, inside the new boundaries you’re learning to create, inside the identity God is shaping in you. You are not behind. You are being built. And buildings built quietly often stand the longest. Keep going. Your silence is not emptiness, it’s preparation. Temilade Alokan  Light Lamp

​ You don’t look like what you’ve survived and that is grace.  If people knew the full weight of what you’ve lived through, they would look at you with awe. Not pity, awe. Because somehow, after every heartbreak, every loss, every disappointment, you still manage to smile. You still extend kindness. You still believe there’s goodness ahead. That’s not weakness. That’s grace. God covered you in storms that should have soaked you to the bone. He carried you through nights that should have broken you and when people see you now, they see the glory  but not the story. Grace kept you. Grace rebuilt you. Grace made you look untouched by battles you fought alone. Temilade Alokan  Light Lamp

Not every delay is denial. Some delays are protection.  There were doors I cried over. Opportunities I begged God for. Relationships I wanted to force open. Every “no” felt like rejection  but now, looking back, I see they were shields. I didn’t know that the job I wanted would have drained me. I didn’t know that the person I prayed for would have broken me. I didn’t know the path I wanted so badly would have led me into valleys I wasn’t ready for. So God delayed me. He slowed the process. He interrupted my timeline. Not to frustrate me  but to preserve me. Delays are often the fences God puts around your destiny so that nothing harmful can slip in unnoticed. If only we saw what He sees, we would thank Him more for the doors that never opened than for the ones that did. Temilade Alokan  Light Lamp

Don’t rush the process.  What God is building in you needs time, not panic.  Impatience is human,  but God works on a different clock. He takes His time because He builds deeply. He doesn’t do surface work, He changes foundations. The version of you He’s sculpting is one that will last,  not one that will crumble at pressure. So if He’s taking long,  It means the blessing requires inner strength and stability. Don’t panic. Don’t rush. Don’t force what God is still refining. Some blessings come quickly, but the ones that last… take time. Temilade Alokan  Light Lamp