Deck to Page #18
Deck: Mindful Souls ‘Soul Bridges’
Category: Express = Share what makes you, you.
Prompt: “What is something you’re secretly proud of achieving?
The card asked:
What is something you’re secretly proud of achieving?
My first thought was simple —
I finished my book.
And my husband and I purchased our first office building.
Those don’t really feel like secrets.
They were big moments. Tangible ones. The kind you can point to and say, there it is. But the feeling around them wasn’t loud. There wasn’t a dramatic victory lap. No moment where everything suddenly changed.
Instead, it was quieter than I expected.
With the office especially, my husband carried most of the heavy lifting — the stress, the logistics, the responsibility of making sure everything worked. I was part of it, but in a different way. Sometimes achievements aren’t evenly weighted in effort, yet they still belong to both people. And sometimes pride isn’t about who did more — it’s about what was built together.
Which made me realize something:
Most of the things we are proud of…
we don’t actually announce.
They just become part of our life.
I also realized I wasn’t proud in the way I expected.
I didn’t feel a finish-line moment. I felt relief… and a quiet settling.
The book existed.
The office was ours.
Life simply continued — but I was different inside it.
The achievement wasn’t the announcement, it was the becoming.
Pride, for me, showed up as calm rather than excitement.
Not look what I did, but this is now part of who I am.
Lately, in attempting to boost our marketing efforts, we’ve been referencing the National Day Calendar and adding those little observances as playful additions to these posts.
February 23rd is National Tootsie Roll Day, which feels oddly connected.
Apparently it also shares the spotlight with National Tile Day, National Dog Biscuit Day, and National Banana Bread Day — quite the range… though I’m definitely voting banana bread for runner-up. Yum.
When our friends’ kids were younger, we would go trick-or-treating together. They all knew I loved Tootsie Rolls, so without being asked they would sort their candy and set them aside for me.
At the end of the night, I always walked away with a bag full.
No one made a speech about it.
No one made it a big deal.
They just noticed something about me — and remembered.
Even now, a neighbor and friend will include a container of Tootsie Rolls in gifts. It became a known thing. A small identity marker.
And honestly… that feels similar to pride.
Not the loud kind.
The recognized kind.
The kind where people quietly acknowledge something about who you are or what you’ve created — without you needing to explain it.
We often think pride has to be tied to milestones:
Finishing a book.
Buying a building.
Reaching a goal.
But sometimes the deeper pride comes from consistency — staying with something long enough that it becomes associated with you.
For me, that’s the spiritual work I do with others. The quiet, steady presence. The conversations. The process.
People begin to know you by it.
Expect it from you.
Trust it about you.
You don’t have to announce it anymore.
It just lives there — like a bowl of Tootsie Rolls someone keeps refilling because they know you’ll smile when you see it.
(Though if I ever look up how they’re actually made, I might ruin the magic. Some things in the food supply — and maybe in life — are better left unexamined.)
Pride doesn’t always feel like standing on a stage.
Sometimes it feels like walking away at the end of the night with a bag someone else filled… because of something they learned about you over time.
The calm wasn’t the end of the journey.
It was the end of wondering if I could do it.
And realizing:
You became someone who carried the work all the way through.
Not famous.
Not perfect.
Just known.
Reflection
- What is something about you people remember without being reminded?
• What have you stayed consistent with long enough to become part of your identity?
• What pride in your life feels quiet rather than celebratory?
• Where in your life are others acknowledging you more than you acknowledge yourself?
Theresa
Flexible Being
Empowering Your Journey to Healing, Clarity, and Self-Discovery.
Thank you for being here. If you enjoyed this post, there’s plenty more where that came from, everything from soulful healing tips to playful prompts and real conversations about life.
Find me and connect today. I want to learn about your story:
Email: theresa@flexiblebeing.com
Website: www.flexiblebeing.com
Instagram:
@theresamartinezshapiro
@flexiblebeing
Facebook:
@flexiblebeingonline
Theresa Martinez-Shapiro
Hello! I am Theresa Martinez-Shapiro; Wife to Robert. Founder of Flexible Being. A Master Reiki Therapist, Certified Oracle Guide, Spiritual Mentor/Guide, Intuitive Empath, Coach, and Educator. I am a fur mom to 3 cats and 1 dog – Sonny, Patches, Ryelee, and Winnie. We currently live and practice in Stockton, California. We operate three businesses – Shapiro Holistic Health and Chiropractic, Fusion Health APC, and Synergy Health MSO, where we seek to improve and change the lives of our patients and those we have the privilege of crossing paths with. My healing and mentoring journey began around 5 years old when I discovered that I was put on this planet to help others. I knew I was different, unique, and gifted. I did not see the world the same way everyone else did, and recognized I was meant to do so much more. I began to research, spending a lot of time reading & asking a lot of questions to anyone that wanted to share stories about their life experiences. I am a dreamer and had a unique relationship with the dream world. My very real, vivid & lucid dreams began turning into out-of-body experiences and unexplained occurrences. I began doing my own dream interpretations to look for patterns & a new way of deciphering life. Family members were part of many different religions, so I was educated in Catholicism, Buddhism, Metaphysics, and Native American culture & beliefs. Along the way, I took up multiple mentors that cultivated my growth and expansion of my gifts, allowing me to focus on my potential and purpose. As an adult, coworkers were unloading their life stories, internal secrets, and things that had not been shared or even spoken out loud. I began to share those experiences with my aunt & Reiki Master/Teacher, Carmen. In 2012, Carmen told me, “I think you are ready to walk the path I always knew you were meant to walk”. That saying began my obsessive journey into Reiki, Spirituality, Psychology, Intuition and Psychic gifts, Meditation and Mindfulness, Past Lives, Consciousness, Energy Medicine, Mysteries of the Universe, Moon and Sun cycles, Astrology, Numerology, Oracle Cards, Shamanism, & so much more. My journey has helped me to assist patients, clients, families, and friends discover who they have been, who they are, and who they want to become. I am expanding my reach and educating others by authoring Musings of a Flexible Being, and I look forward to sharing my journey with you. Thank you! Theresa Martinez-Shapiro Flexible Being Website: www.flexiblebeing.com Socials: Facebook: @flexiblebeingonline Instagram:@theresamartinezshapiro Instagram: @flexiblebeing
