I was having a conversation with my BFF Tricia Barrett recently, and I found myself asking this question, “Can you shine your light and be pure in your integrity and still experience love and belonging?”

I know it’s a strange question. But I’ve identified a big limiting belief in my life, so I spent the past day exploring it.

A recent study reported that 1 in 5 American adults takes at least one psychiatric drug to treat depression and/or anxiety, a 22% increase since 2001. Do you get what this means? This means that in an office of 100 people, 20 of them – enough to form an entire department – will be on medication.

In the average family of 2 parents and 2 1/2 kids, one of them will eventually take psychiatric drugs. At your next high school reunion of 1000 graduates, 200 of them will be on mind-altering drugs.

As a body image coach and mentor, the subject of weight is pretty common among my students–some are overweight, some are underweight, and some are struggling with their weight – even if it’s perfect (as far as the numbers are concerned).  There’s an irony, huh? That there could be a “perfect” weight anywhere in our society. The truth is that we are fed lies upon lies about “perfect” body image and perfect weight, and we eat them and STARVE on the inside while growing larger and larger on the outside.

Sometimes, I could swear, the earth speaks.

I was at my daughter’s swim meet timing with another mom when her 9-year-old daughter joined us. We had timed a few events when the girl started shrieking; there was a bee on the diving block before us. It landed on the wet cement…buzz…rest…buzz…rest. The daughter grew increasingly upset.