My Boss.
Every success is a mosaic of invisible contributions.
We often talk about romantic love, but there is a deeply underrated kind of love that gets overlooked all the time — the mentor kind of love. The kind that believes in your potential before you learn to believe in yourself. A love that sees you not for your accomplishments, but for your effort. One that witnesses your tears and struggles, yet still trusts your strength, and never lets the world convince you that you are not enough.
And for that kind of love, you feel a lasting gratitude — not because you are special, but because, for once, you know you are loved.
Patience is a learned skill. Sometimes, you have to experience someone being patient with you in order to learn how to be patient with yourself. My boss has taught me that. Patience, at times, means having no expectations.
When I watch him train me, he never shows frustration. Even when I don’t understand something the first — or even the second — time, he simply adjusts his approach. Over time, I’ve realized that he isn’t just teaching me how to do the work — he’s teaching me how to teach myself, how to question, how to think.
The more patient he is with me, the more it inspires me to grow — not because I want to prove myself to him, but because I see that someone believes in abilities I didn’t even know I had. He activates a version of me I had never met before.
Sometimes, we need someone to believe in us before we learn how to believe in ourselves.
At times, we need someone who refuses to give up on us — so we learn not to give up on ourselves
He has never asked me to be better — he inspires me to want to be better for myself. He supports me by showing me how to support myself. He leads by showing me how to lead myself.
Most importantly, he teaches me how to allow myself to make mistakes:
“Tracy, you have to learn how to fix your mistakes. I know how to fix yours because I’ve made them myself. The key is not to never make mistakes — the key is to learn how not to make them again.”
He teaches me to allow myself to fail, as long as I am failing forward. Because inner confidence isn’t built on triumphs — it’s built on how you pick yourself up. It’s built in those moments when you feel like you can’t go on, yet somehow, you do.
No, he doesn’t just teach me how to solve problems — he activates the skills within me and allows me to navigate challenges on my own.
When I was on my work trip in Oklahoma, I told myself I wanted to give back to the community by sharing my life experiences with the next generation. I want to use my words and my work to inspire the young people I’m so fortunate to cross paths with.
But to inspire others is to awaken the strength within them.
To lead others is to awaken their independence — to remind them of their own strength and colors, and to allow them to truly shine in their own way.
When I tremble in my own journey, I often think of the women in my life — how they move through obstacles and emerge even stronger. And I realize this: you don’t inspire others by what you say or even what you do, but by who you are — by the way you live your life. With grace. With courage. With awareness.
With love.
Last weekend, when I spent time with my friends, they shared their dreams and goals with me. I thanked them for trusting me enough to be their safe space, and I truly hope I live up to that. But then I realized — perhaps the greatest gift of friendship is simply allowing someone to be.
I hope we learn to allow ourselves to be, too.
In a world that constantly asks us to be better, stronger, more successful — In a world that constantly asks us to prove ourselves, I hope you learn to just be.
I hope you learn to embrace who you are, in the moment you are in, and to celebrate yourself in every moment you are alive.
Don’t wait for the next opportunity.
Don’t wait for the next love.
Don’t wait for something to happen before you allow yourself to be happy.
Life is already happening in every moment you are alive.
And,
I hope you always remember that.
You, are enough.
Now, is enough.