What If Your Power Is the Pause?


Hey there,

Recently, I came off a closing session with a coaching client. It was a moment of reflection, integration, and quiet completion.

She has chosen to remain anonymous, which I fully respect.

I feel deep gratitude and awe for what unfolded over the past six months.

When we first began, she was living in a place of hopelessness and depression, caught in resentment and relentless rumination. Anxiety and a very rigid upbringing had shaped an inner world where asking for help felt like failure—like proof of being “not enough.”

Our work together was not about fixing her.
It was about holding steady, compassionate space while she reclaimed her own agency.

One of the most significant shifts she named was this:

‘My patience has grown. There is more internal space. It feels like a room inside me—where I can think, weigh things up, and feel—before I open the door and act. It’s the space between reacting and choosing.’

This inner space, the distance from automatic reaction, is freedom.

It’s the difference between reacting and choosing how to respond, if at all.
It's the difference between acting out of fear and acting out of love.

Today, she feels more at ease with herself. She knows she has something to offer the world. We spoke about first steps toward what comes next.
It feels exciting, tender, and is entirely hers to carry forward.

The changes may look subtle from the outside.
Inside, they are profound.

And this is how I believe real change happens:
one person at a time, cultivating enough inner space to respond consciously.
So that action comes from love, not fear.

Do you relate to this idea of “internal space”?

I'd love to hear from you. 🤗

With love,
xx Antonie

Do it before you die.
Some day will never come.

P.S.: If this story made you nod, smile, or breathe a little deeper, and you'd like to say thank you in a small but meaningful way, you can leave me a little tip (or coffee!) here:

Caffeinated Radiance Tip.

Your support helps me keep creating and sharing my work from the heart. 💛

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Radiant Life Toolkit

I help bored 50+ women with an empty nest who want to make money, impact, deep connections, and live fully before they die.

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