hetti-marie manu

You are going places that require less baggage. I woke up recently with a hard realization: at the heart of almost everything I’d been wrestling with was offence. Not exhaustion. Not stress. Not even leadership pressure. Offence. My mother struggled with it for years. She carried hurts like heirlooms, replayed conversations, and wrestled with wounds long after others had moved on. I watched how it weighed her down. But near the end of her life, something shifted. She found a measure of...

Integrity doesn’t bend to convenience. It holds steady, even when it’s not easy. It’s a sobering question, isn’t it? Most people wouldn’t call themselves liars. We’re generally full of good intentions and we often mean well. But meaning well and following through are two very different things. Let’s be honest: How often do we say things like, “I’ll pray for you,” “Let’s catch up soon,” “I’ll be there,” or “I’ve got you” but never follow through? Not necessarily because we’re malicious, but...

Listen with the intent to learn, not just to answer. Let’s be honest: most of us think we’re good listeners until we’re asked to actually stop talking. It’s something I have to work on daily. Not just listening to respond, but truly listening to understand without interrupting, fixing, judging, or tuning out while mentally crafting my reply (my default setting). For a long time, I associated talking with strength or at least I acted that way. I thought being the most outspoken in the room...