🌸 I wanted the fairy tale.

🌸 I wanted the fairy tale.

When I was a teenager, all I wanted was to fall in love, get married young, and have babies. 💍👶

I didn't think much about building a career or finishing my education because I believed my husband would provide for us.

But here's what's interesting...

When I was a little girl, that wasn't my dream at all.

I wanted to be President. I wanted to be something BIG! 🇺🇸

Somewhere along the way, my vision changed. Somewhere, I started believing that my greatest purpose was to find someone who would take care of me.

And looking back, I realize that's where I got lost.

My mom tried to warn me over and over.

She would say, "Michelle, always make sure you can take care of yourself."

She wasn't telling me not to get married.

She wasn't telling me not to have children.

She was telling me not to lose myself.

Because life is unpredictable.

💔 You could marry the most wonderful man in the world, and he could pass away unexpectedly, leaving you with children to raise.

💔 You could marry someone you believed was honest, only to discover years later that he wasn't who you thought he was.

💔 You could grow, heal, and become a different woman, only to realize the relationship no longer aligns with who you've become.

People can change.

People can lie.

People can cheat.

People can leave.

And sometimes life simply happens.

That isn't cynicism.

It's reality.

That's why every woman deserves an education, valuable skills, financial literacy, and the confidence to stand on her own two feet.

Not because she expects her marriage to fail.

But because she values herself enough to know she will always be responsible for her own life.

The one person you are guaranteed to live with for the rest of your life...

Is yourself. ❤️

Wanting love is beautiful.

Wanting marriage is beautiful.

Wanting a family is beautiful.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with those dreams.

The mistake is believing those dreams should come at the expense of your education, your purpose, your independence, or your ability to provide for yourself.

For generations, many young women were taught that a prince would rescue them. Fairy tales reinforced it. Culture reinforced it. Sometimes even religion reinforced it.

But love should never require a woman to abandon herself.

Real love doesn't ask you to become dependent.

Real love celebrates your gifts, your intelligence, your calling, and your ability to stand beside your partner not beneath him.

This is one of the greatest purposes God has placed on my heart. 🌿

To show women that they really can achieve it all.

They can build a loving family, pursue an education, create a career, own a business, become financially independent, and still live a life filled with love and purpose.

My role isn't to tell women what they should choose.

My role is to educate them so they can make informed decisions with their eyes wide open.

I never want another woman to wake up years later wishing she had listened to her mother's wisdom, wishing she had finished school, learned a skill, or believed she was capable of standing on her own.

Knowledge gives us choices.

And choices give us freedom.

Women deserve the freedom to make informed choices.

They deserve access to education.

They deserve financial independence.

They deserve to build careers if they choose.

They deserve marriages built on partnership instead of dependency.

And they deserve to remain part of the story.

Writing women out of the narrative, their voices, their dreams, their education, and their contributions is not okay.

We are not waiting to be rescued.

We are fully capable of building beautiful lives, whether we marry or not.

And if we do marry, may it be because two whole people chose one another—not because one needed the other to survive. 

— Michelle Ann

TheHealingCheff.com 🌿

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