{"id":3071,"date":"2025-06-19T08:59:48","date_gmt":"2025-06-19T08:59:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lydiahkarimi.co.ke\/?p=3071"},"modified":"2025-06-19T08:59:48","modified_gmt":"2025-06-19T08:59:48","slug":"from-survival-to-purpose-how-motherhood-led-me-back-to-myself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lydiahkarimi.savanis.co.ke\/index.php\/2025\/06\/19\/from-survival-to-purpose-how-motherhood-led-me-back-to-myself\/","title":{"rendered":"From Survival to Purpose: How Motherhood Led Me Back to Myself"},"content":{"rendered":"

From Survival to Purpose: How Motherhood Led Me Back to Myself<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the most beautiful, life-altering gifts God has given me is the gift of motherhood.<\/p>\n

I am a mother of four\u2014two girls and two boys. And while I knew motherhood would be a journey of love, sacrifice, and responsibility, I didn\u2019t anticipate just how deeply it would challenge and transform me.<\/p>\n

When Love Felt Like Duty<\/strong><\/p>\n

In my earlier years as a mom, I poured everything I had into ensuring my children had what they needed\u2014good schools, nutritious meals, safe shelter, and decent clothes. I worked hard to provide a life they could be proud of. And though that effort was good and necessary, something inside me still felt… empty.<\/p>\n

Motherhood began to feel more like a duty than a joy.<\/p>\n

There were days I would walk through the door completely exhausted, with nothing left to give emotionally. I\u2019d go to bed feeling defeated, believing I had somehow fallen short again. Despite the love I had for my children, I felt disconnected\u2014from them and from myself.<\/p>\n

Something wasn\u2019t right. Something was missing.<\/p>\n

The Breaking Point\u2014and the Turning Point<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eventually, the emotional weight became too heavy to carry. I began a journey inward\u2014a search to understand what was truly going on inside me. I realized that I had absorbed so many \u201cshoulds\u201d and \u201cshould nots\u201d about parenting and womanhood from society, culture, and even my own inner critic.<\/p>\n

I cried. I prayed. I fasted. I wept.<\/p>\n

But the sadness didn\u2019t leave. My appetite disappeared, my sleep was disrupted, and I withdrew from the people I loved. It was more than burnout\u2014it was depression. And what hurt the most was the feeling that I wasn\u2019t able to give my children the best version of me.<\/p>\n

So I made a choice that changed everything: I sought therapy.<\/p>\n

The Journey Back to Me<\/strong><\/p>\n

Therapy became a safe space where I could be honest. I remember one particular session where my therapist asked me to do a SWOT analysis\u2014not for a business, but for me<\/em>.<\/p>\n

What were my strengths?
\nWhat did I truly want?
\nWhat opportunities and resources were around me?
\nWhat had I believed that was holding me back?<\/p>\n

That moment marked the beginning of a profound transformation.<\/p>\n

I slowly began to rediscover who I was\u2014not just as a mother, but as a woman. As an individual. As someone with purpose, identity, and dreams. And that process led me right back into the therapy room\u2014but this time as a therapist, not a client.<\/p>\n

A New Calling Emerged<\/strong><\/p>\n

Helping others discover their purpose and find healing became my passion. I returned to school, began speaking, coaching, and mentoring\u2014this time from a place of experience, compassion, and renewed strength.<\/p>\n

But this journey wasn\u2019t without cost.<\/p>\n

I lost comfort. I lost certain relationships. I faced seasons of isolation. Even areas of my life that once felt steady\u2014like ministry and family\u2014were shaken. But I chose to press on.<\/p>\n

Why? Because I knew I was becoming the mother my children truly needed\u2014a woman who is grounded, emotionally healthy, and aligned with her purpose.<\/p>\n

My Parenting, Transformed<\/strong><\/p>\n

Today, my parenting has shifted. I no longer pray for my children to become what I<\/em> desire. I now ask God to open my eyes to His<\/em> plan for them. I\u2019ve learned that I\u2019m not here to control their future\u2014I\u2019m here to steward their journey with wisdom, love, and faith.<\/p>\n

And that realization has changed everything.<\/p>\n

To the Woman Who Feels Lost\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Maybe you\u2019re a young mother silently struggling. Maybe you\u2019re a professional woman balancing roles, expectations, and quiet exhaustion. Maybe you\u2019ve lost your sense of identity under the weight of what life demands.<\/p>\n

If that\u2019s you, I want you to know: there is hope<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

You are not alone.<\/p>\n

You can<\/em> heal.
\nYou can<\/em> rise.
\nYou can<\/em> rediscover who you are\u2014both in God and within yourself.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, we have to go down before we can rise up.
\nSometimes, losing ourselves is the path to truly finding ourselves.<\/p>\n

This is my story. And maybe, in some way, it\u2019s also yours.<\/p>\n

With love and purpose,
\nLydiah<\/strong>
\nTherapist | Coach | Speaker | Mother | Healed & Healing<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Survival to Purpose: How Motherhood Led Me Back to Myself One of the most beautiful, life-altering gifts God has given me is the gift of motherhood. I am a mother of four\u2014two girls and two boys. And while I knew motherhood would be a journey of love, sacrifice, and responsibility, I didn\u2019t anticipate just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3073,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"disabled","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-3071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-a-journey-of-self-care"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lydiahkarimi.savanis.co.ke\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lydiahkarimi.savanis.co.ke\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lydiahkarimi.savanis.co.ke\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lydiahkarimi.savanis.co.ke\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lydiahkarimi.savanis.co.ke\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3071"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lydiahkarimi.savanis.co.ke\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3071\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3076,"href":"https:\/\/lydiahkarimi.savanis.co.ke\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3071\/revisions\/3076"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lydiahkarimi.savanis.co.ke\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lydiahkarimi.savanis.co.ke\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lydiahkarimi.savanis.co.ke\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lydiahkarimi.savanis.co.ke\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3071"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lydiahkarimi.savanis.co.ke\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=3071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}