I am a Ray of Sunshine!

☀️ Reclaiming My Sunshine

Recently I had an assignment in a coaching workshop that turned out to be surprisingly powerful.

We were asked to find a photo of ourselves as children and reflect on our inner essence: who we were before the world shaped us. What qualities were simply part of who we were at our core?

As I sat with this photo of myself, a phrase came back to me that people used to say when I was a kid:

“You’re a ray of sunshine.”

I had completely forgotten about that.

Somewhere along the way, I lost touch with that part of myself. Like many of us, I grew into a very responsible adult. Focused. Productive. Reliable. All valuable things, but over time, some of that natural lightness got pushed to the side.

So recently I’ve been experimenting with a new affirmation:

I am a ray of sunshine.

Not because I’m cheerful every minute of every day. But because bringing warmth, encouragement, and positive energy into the spaces I inhabit is part of who I truly am.

This exercise got me thinking about how easy it is to lose sight of certain parts of ourselves as we move through adulthood. We take on responsibilities, build careers, care for families, and navigate life's inevitable challenges. Sometimes, without even realizing it, we drift away from qualities that once came naturally.

And I’m realizing that reclaiming those original parts of ourselves can be incredibly powerful — especially in midlife, when many of us are finally asking:

Who am I now? And who do I want to be moving forward?

For me, the answer includes more sunshine.

And honestly… the world could use a little more of that right now.

Reflection
As women, many of us spend decades focused on meeting expectations. We build careers, care for children or aging parents, support partners, manage households, and become the people others can depend on.

Along the way, we often develop wonderful qualities including resilience, competence, leadership, and responsibility. But sometimes those strengths come at a cost. We become so focused on who we need to be that we lose touch with who we have always been.

That's why this exercise is so powerful. It’s an invitation to reconnect with qualities that may have been buried beneath years of obligations and expectations.

Maybe you were adventurous. Creative. Playful. Curious. Compassionate. Optimistic.

What parts of yourself have been waiting patiently for your attention?

Midlife often gets framed as a time of loss or transition. But I wonder if it can also be a time to reclaim parts of ourselves that never truly disappeared.

For me, that's sunshine.