What the Mirror Taught Me About Misalignment and Coming Home to Myself

For years, I woke up and looked in the mirror with a quiet sense of unease.

It wasn’t just about the weight gain or the tiredness in my eyes. It was the creeping awareness that I was no longer fully present in my own life. I was performing, delivering, and meeting expectations, but I was also disconnected from myself.

What I saw in the mirror reflected that.

Behind the professional polish and the calm exterior was someone who had strayed too far from what felt true. I had said yes too often. Sacrificed too much. Lost sight of what really mattered to me. And the cost of that wasn’t just emotional; it was physical. I felt heavy, foggy, and out of rhythm with myself.

This piece explores the slow drift of misalignment and the quiet work of returning to yourself, a reflection aligned with the core of Awakening to Wholeness.

Misalignment Is a Slow Drift, Not a Sudden Fall

In my work now, I speak with many people who describe a similar experience. Not a crash or crisis, but a slow drifting away from themselves. They’ve built successful careers and held it all together. But underneath the surface, there’s a question they can’t ignore any longer.

Is this the life I chose, or the one I defaulted into?

The answer isn’t always clear. But the discomfort is real. It shows up in restlessness, burnout, and even resentment. Not because people are doing too much but because they’re doing the wrong things that no longer reflect who they are becoming.

That’s what misalignment burnout is.

It’s not about working hard.

It’s about working from the wrong place.

Reconnection Starts with Looking Honestly

When I began to come back to myself, I didn’t start by changing everything. I started by noticing.

• Where was I numbing?
• Where was I saying yes when I meant no?
• Where had I fallen silent in my own story?

Although these questions weren’t comfortable, they were necessary. It helped me untangle what I had absorbed from others, expectations, definitions of success, ways of working, and what actually felt aligned for me.

Slowly, I began making different choices, not dramatic ones, but deliberate ones. I started putting my own well-being back into the frame. I revisited what I cared about. I gave myself permission to move at a pace that felt more honest.

Yes, I lost the weight. But the real shift was internal. I could look in the mirror again and see someone who was living with more clarity, courage, and calm.

This Isn’t About Reinvention. It’s About Return.

Many mid-career professionals feel pressure to reinvent themselves completely. But I’ve found that most people don’t need a total overhaul. They need a way back to who they were before they started bending to fit every demand.

This kind of transformation is more about small shifts that bring more truth into your day-to-day life.

If you’ve been feeling out of step with yourself, ask:

• What am I tolerating that drains me?
• What part of me have I silenced to keep the peace?
• What would it look like to lead from a more grounded place?

Leading with Integrity Begins with Self-Connection

As a leadership guide, I often work with people who are brilliant at holding space for others but struggle to hold space for themselves. They know how to lead change, manage complexity, and navigate demands. But when it comes to their own needs, there’s hesitation. Guilt. Even fear.

I understand that. I’ve lived it.

But here’s what I’ve learned. When we lead without connection to ourselves, we end up chasing outcomes that don’t bring peace. We burn out. We lose clarity. We start to perform rather than embody.

And sometimes, it begins with something as simple as asking, What do I see when I look in the mirror?

If anything in this piece resonates with where you are right now, I’d love to hear from you.

You don’t need to have it all figured out. You just need to be curious enough to begin. Because coming home to yourself isn’t a luxury, it’s the foundation for everything else.