<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0" xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd" xmlns:googleplay="http://www.google.com/schemas/play-podcasts/1.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Soulfull Medicine Midlife]]></title><description><![CDATA[Science and soul for women over 40 who've done the work and still feel a little lost. 💛✨]]></description><link>https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com</link><image><url>https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!O6Kc!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb2613852-994d-4f77-941a-0aea81999652_985x985.png</url><title>Soulfull Medicine Midlife</title><link>https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com</link></image><generator>Substack</generator><lastBuildDate>Tue, 04 Aug 2026 23:04:11 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><copyright><![CDATA[Sue McCreadie, MD]]></copyright><language><![CDATA[en]]></language><webMaster><![CDATA[drsuemccreadie@substack.com]]></webMaster><itunes:owner><itunes:email><![CDATA[drsuemccreadie@substack.com]]></itunes:email><itunes:name><![CDATA[Sue McCreadie, MD]]></itunes:name></itunes:owner><itunes:author><![CDATA[Sue McCreadie, MD]]></itunes:author><googleplay:owner><![CDATA[drsuemccreadie@substack.com]]></googleplay:owner><googleplay:email><![CDATA[drsuemccreadie@substack.com]]></googleplay:email><googleplay:author><![CDATA[Sue McCreadie, MD]]></googleplay:author><itunes:block><![CDATA[Yes]]></itunes:block><item><title><![CDATA[The Simple, Uplifting Truth About Somatic Healing]]></title><description><![CDATA[What if the healing you keep reaching for is something your body already knows how to do?]]></description><link>https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/the-simple-uplifting-truth-about</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/the-simple-uplifting-truth-about</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Sue McCreadie, MD]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 23 Jul 2026 00:38:06 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/207039856/7e3e59dd204029e5e0224a17af345638.mp3" length="0" type="audio/mpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This morning I didn&#8217;t want to do yoga. Tight back. Can&#8217;t see my chiropractor until Monday, and I stood there going, okay, just do it, Sue. &#128558;&#8205;&#128168;</p><p>When I dropped into pigeon pose, something in me just softened, and my eyes welled out of nowhere. The same thing happened 25 years ago during med school in a yoga class. I was holding a posture and suddenly I was crying, thinking, what is even happening right now? I had no word for it back then.</p><p><strong>Here&#8217;s the simple, uplifting truth: you&#8217;ve already done somatic healing.</strong> </p><p>If you&#8217;ve made it to 40, you&#8217;ve cried a bucket of tears, and you&#8217;ve felt something move through your body that your thinking brain could never have planned. The real question is whether you keep skipping the feeling part on purpose, the way I know I have, staying safe up in your head or busy in the doing, quietly avoiding the feeling part. &#128155;</p><p>Recently I showed up to a breathwork session barely wanting to be there, and at the end with no agenda at all my heart cracks wide open. Happy tears and sad tears at the very same time. Inside, I tell you what I see, who is suddenly right there with me, and the exact breathwork practice I keep coming back to. </p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Letting Go With Love When the Happy and Hard Land Together]]></title><description><![CDATA[Thrilled and quietly heartbroken over the same thing? That's your heart telling the truth.]]></description><link>https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/letting-go-with-love-when-the-happy</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/letting-go-with-love-when-the-happy</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Sue McCreadie, MD]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 16 Jul 2026 00:38:09 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ltsX!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1a3b59bc-240d-4311-b7ee-504058c8c7fe_2400x3600.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;m at dinner with Dave, my husband, and he looks over and asks, what&#8217;s up?</p><p>He can tell I&#8217;ve been crying. I can&#8217;t get the words out. He starts guessing, and I keep shaking my head. No, that&#8217;s not it. That&#8217;s not it either. (Bless Dave, he keeps guessing like there's a prize for landing on the right feeling. &#128514;)</p><p>My oldest just landed in New York City to start her first big job, hundreds of miles from home. I have three grown girls, and I call them my little birdies. When all five of us are under one roof, the nest feels safe and certain, everybody comfy, everybody home.</p><p>And now one little birdie has flown right out of it. &#129394; </p><p>Maybe you have kids. Maybe you don&#8217;t. Either way, you know this ache.</p><p>Maybe for you it&#8217;s the house you finally sell, you&#8217;re over the moon about the new place and still cry in the empty living room. Maybe it&#8217;s a job you love, ending right as a new chapter cracks open. Maybe it&#8217;s a relationship that runs its course, you&#8217;re in love until you&#8217;re not, or a friendship that quietly wraps up.</p><p>Same doorway. &#128682;</p><p><strong>You step into something new, and you leave something you loved on the other side.</strong> </p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ltsX!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1a3b59bc-240d-4311-b7ee-504058c8c7fe_2400x3600.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ltsX!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1a3b59bc-240d-4311-b7ee-504058c8c7fe_2400x3600.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ltsX!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1a3b59bc-240d-4311-b7ee-504058c8c7fe_2400x3600.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ltsX!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1a3b59bc-240d-4311-b7ee-504058c8c7fe_2400x3600.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ltsX!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1a3b59bc-240d-4311-b7ee-504058c8c7fe_2400x3600.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ltsX!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1a3b59bc-240d-4311-b7ee-504058c8c7fe_2400x3600.jpeg" width="1456" height="2184" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ltsX!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1a3b59bc-240d-4311-b7ee-504058c8c7fe_2400x3600.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ltsX!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1a3b59bc-240d-4311-b7ee-504058c8c7fe_2400x3600.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ltsX!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1a3b59bc-240d-4311-b7ee-504058c8c7fe_2400x3600.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ltsX!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1a3b59bc-240d-4311-b7ee-504058c8c7fe_2400x3600.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe"><span>&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;</span></a></p><h2>&#10022; Why the Same Goodbye Can Be Happy and Hard at Once</h2><p>The happy and the hard can land together, softly, in the same place at the same time, without colliding.</p><p>One of my teachers, <strong><a href="https://www.tonyrobbins.com/">Tony Robbins</a></strong>, says it like this: <em>What you focus on, you feel.</em> Your mind is powerful, and you create a lot of your emotions by where you point your focus.</p><p>When I look at my daughter flying the nest, the new job she&#8217;s so excited about, old friends and new ones, I&#8217;m so happy for her. When I look at the chapter that just closed, all her girlfriends who used to pile into my kitchen because we live in a college town, that part is over and it hurts.</p><p>I feel two completely different feelings depending on where I look. &#128064;</p><p>Sadness almost always carries the message of loss, or less. So next time the sad rolls in, get curious with it instead of brushing it off. Ask yourself:</p><p><em>Where am I looking right now?</em></p><ul><li><p>At what&#8217;s ending, what&#8217;s behind me, what I&#8217;m losing?</p></li><li><p>Or at what&#8217;s opening, what&#8217;s growing, what I&#8217;m gaining?</p></li></ul><p><strong>Shift your gaze, and the other feeling is right there, hiding in the very same place.</strong> &#10024;</p><h2>&#10022; The Silver-Lining Trap (and How I Catch Myself)</h2><p>I&#8217;m an Inspirational Mama, so I&#8217;m always looking for the bright side, almost anywhere. Ask my family, it&#8217;s a gift and also quite annoying at times. &#128580; Knowing that about myself is how I catch what I&#8217;m up to, and if you&#8217;ve never met your own pattern, your <strong><a href="https://www.drsuemccreadie.com/soulfull-medicine-quiz-abridged">personality type</a></strong> is a great place to start.</p><p>The second a hard feeling shows up, I have a habit of leaping straight to the good part and skipping the hard. Some people call it spiritual bypassing. With my daughter, it sounds like, well, she&#8217;s happy, so I&#8217;m happy, and just like that, I&#8217;m jump right over my own sadness without ever feeling it.</p><p>But those feelings don&#8217;t disappear. They wait and then they come out all at once. I know this work. I teach this work. And I still can fall into the pattern, hello waterworks over a plate of pasta. &#128557;</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OPt-!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffa249fe9-ac38-46b8-84e1-38022d7ac728_2880x3600.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OPt-!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffa249fe9-ac38-46b8-84e1-38022d7ac728_2880x3600.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OPt-!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffa249fe9-ac38-46b8-84e1-38022d7ac728_2880x3600.jpeg 848w, 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OPt-!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffa249fe9-ac38-46b8-84e1-38022d7ac728_2880x3600.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OPt-!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffa249fe9-ac38-46b8-84e1-38022d7ac728_2880x3600.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OPt-!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffa249fe9-ac38-46b8-84e1-38022d7ac728_2880x3600.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OPt-!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffa249fe9-ac38-46b8-84e1-38022d7ac728_2880x3600.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:&quot;button-wrapper&quot;}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary button-wrapper" href="https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe"><span>&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;</span></a></p><h2>&#10022; Your Head Speaks in Thoughts. Your Heart Speaks in Emotions.</h2><p>I wake up early the next morning, which is when a lot of my clearest stuff arrives. I take my quiet time with spirit first, journaling, stickers, my astro planner, a little tarot and numerology, all of it just to loosen up my thinking mind so I can hear what&#8217;s underneath.</p><p>And the insight that lands is this: <strong>Your head speaks in thoughts. Your heart speaks in emotions.</strong> &#128155;</p><p>Maybe you hand your head every microphone in the house and leave your heart beating in the other room. I know I do. Carl Jung, the psychologist, taught that becoming whole means integrating all of you, the happy and the sad, the light and the shadow, the parts you love and the parts you&#8217;d rather not look at.</p><p>In holistic healing, there&#8217;s a saying that you have to feel it to heal it, and this is exactly why. Listen only to your head, and you skip past half of what healing asks of you. Maybe more.</p><p>So I&#8217;m letting myself sit in the sad, uncomfy feelings instead of stuffing them down. Honoring the loss. Honoring the part of me that feels a little less needed today.</p><p><strong>Healing is your head and your heart getting back on the same team, and some days that means holding both the happy and the hard at once, even when it&#8217;s unsettling.</strong> &#129293;</p><h2>&#10022; Letting Go With Love Means Honoring Both</h2><p>If you&#8217;re anything like me, part of you dodges the hard feeling because it looks like a black hole you&#8217;ll fall into and never climb out of. It isn&#8217;t. Your feelings have a bottom. You can&#8217;t cry forever, and at some point nothing else even comes out, right? &#128514;</p><p>Your nervous system is built to protect you. So give yourself a few minutes to feel the feeling, while gently reminding yourself, I&#8217;m safe, even in this discomfort. That&#8217;s how you move through an emotion instead of staying stuck in it.</p><p>And if it&#8217;s more than everyday sad, if what you&#8217;re carrying is real trauma, that&#8217;s not a few-minutes-at-the-kitchen-table thing, and you&#8217;re not meant to carry it alone. That&#8217;s where a good therapist comes in, someone trained to hold you in a truly safe space while you feel it. &#129401;</p><p>Dr. Bruce Perry, the psychiatrist who spent thirty years studying trauma and wrote <em><strong><a href="https://www.amazon.com/What-Happened-You-Understanding-Resilience/dp/1250223180">What Happened to You?</a></strong></em> with Oprah Winfrey, found that healing doesn&#8217;t come from one big breakthrough. It comes from small, doable moments of safety and connection, again and again, what he calls therapeutic dosing. So whether it&#8217;s a few minutes at your kitchen table or the steady care of a good therapist, it&#8217;s the little moments that heal you.</p><p>And those little moments aren&#8217;t only found in a therapist&#8217;s office. They happen in a hard conversation with a friend who gets it, in a room full of women who let you say the sad part out loud and stay right there with you. </p><p>You don&#8217;t have to pick between the happy and the hard. You get to feel both.</p><p><strong>And honoring both, that&#8217;s how you let go with love.</strong> &#128330;&#65039;</p><p>xo, <br>Dr. Sue</p><p><strong>P.S.</strong> This is exactly why I built the <strong><a href="https://www.drsuemccreadie.com/soulfull-membership">Soulfull Path membership</a></strong>, a circle of women showing up together week after week, honoring both the happy and the hard, one small safe moment at a time. That steady connection is what the science points to, and it&#8217;s what I want for you. If you're tired of sorting the big feelings out alone, come find your people. We've got you. <strong><a href="https://www.drsuemccreadie.com/soulfull-membership">Join us here &#8594;</a></strong> &#127793;</p><p><strong>P.P.S. </strong>Join me live Thursday at 11:30am Eastern on Substack. This week: <em><strong><a href="https://open.substack.com/live-stream/279418">The Simple, Uplifting Truth About Somatic Healing</a></strong>.</em> See you there. &#128155;</p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Spiritual Love, Even in the Hard Chapter]]></title><description><![CDATA[What if the love that's patient, hopeful, and trusting, the kind that doesn't depend on anyone else, has been seconds away this whole time?]]></description><link>https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/spiritual-love-even-in-the-hard-chapter</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/spiritual-love-even-in-the-hard-chapter</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Sue McCreadie, MD]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 02 Jul 2026 00:38:10 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/203614731/c3bb23ab19d14a85ec34d651dc1c9774.mp3" length="0" type="audio/mpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;m an early bird. Bed before 10, with rare exceptions, and I&#8217;ll admit I defend that bedtime like it&#8217;s a small child. So recently, when I picked up my daughter from work at 11:30, I knew I was cooked. The next day I wandered around foggy and well&#8230; kinda useless. &#128566;&#8205;&#127787;&#65039;</p><p>Most mornings I&#8217;ve got my little me-time corner going. Wise books, tarot for the day, numerology, an astro planner, and yes, stickers and markers, because apparently I&#8217;m 12. It&#8217;s how I climb out of my spinning head for a bit. One morning I was sitting there with something heavy on my heart and I caught myself doing my favorite unhelpful thing. Waiting. Without realizing I was putting off feeling good, telling myself that once the hard thing finally sorted itself out, <em>then</em> I&#8217;d be at peace again. Maybe you do this too. &#129335;&#8205;&#9792;&#65039;</p><p>As I sat there in that more heartful space, I was thinking about how my whole goal is to be love, and to do what love would do. And then that passage from First Corinthians came to me. You know the one. "Love is patient, love is kind." This time, though, I stopped and read the words, and saw all the ways of being that love is: kind, patient, forgiving, protecting, truthful, hopeful, trusting, unselfish, persevering, humble, calm, and grateful. </p><p>Some of those I was being. And some of them, sitting there that morning, I clearly was not, like patient, and trusting that things were going to work out. I had to laugh, because I know this stuff. I teach it. And there I was anyway, certain I needed something out there to fall into place before I could feel at peace right here, right now.</p><p><strong>If you've been struggling your way through a hard season, waiting for life to settle down before you let yourself exhale and feel good again, no wonder you feel like you're running on empty.</strong></p><p>In this week&#8217;s <em>Soulfull Medicine Live</em>, I walk you through a 60-second practice, and right in the middle of it a love I hadn&#8217;t felt in years came barreling back into my heart like no time had passed at all. I didn&#8217;t see <em>that</em> coming. &#129401;</p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Unlock Your Hidden Intuition With Tarot Numerology]]></title><description><![CDATA[Have you ever said "I know exactly what I should do" &#8212; and then not done it?]]></description><link>https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/unlock-your-hidden-intuition-with</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/unlock-your-hidden-intuition-with</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Sue McCreadie, MD]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 19 Jun 2026 16:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-video.s3.amazonaws.com/video_upload/post/202574141/3839a097-75f2-4217-b359-aa8b60a2f934/transcoded-1782333415.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I took a shower, fully intending to blow out my hair. I had every plan. And then I was on the couch with my little piece of chocolate and peanut butter and a cup of tea, and I thought: I am too tired for this. I woke up the next morning not sure about the situation &#8212; then got out of the shower and thought, actually? This doesn&#8217;t look half bad. &#129325;</p><p><strong>That gap between what you intend and what you actually do? It&#8217;s usually not a willpower problem &#8212; it&#8217;s something below the surface running the show. And that&#8217;s exactly what tarot numerology lets you see.</strong></p><p>Maybe you, like me, have had the experience of knowing the right answer and still not being able to move. What if the reason is simpler &#8212; and more interesting &#8212; than you think?</p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Fascinating Unexpected Truth About Tarot Numerology I Could No Longer Ignore]]></title><description><![CDATA[She tattooed it on her body before she knew her soul number. I still get chills.]]></description><link>https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/the-fascinating-unexpected-truth</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/the-fascinating-unexpected-truth</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Sue McCreadie, MD]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 18 Jun 2026 12:52:40 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sOnS!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc9c43b50-f4db-49ae-bfdc-8ac3e3eedd4c_1000x1500.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>We&#8217;re mid-podcast interview when I ask the host if she knows her soul number.</p><p>&#8220;No, actually. I have no idea.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Would you like me to calculate it right here?&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Yes. I&#8217;d love that.&#8221;</p><p>I do the math. Her soul number is 8.</p><p>I tell her: in Tarot Numerology, 8 is the Strength card.</p><p>She goes quiet for a second. Then she smiles. And she says:</p><p><em>&#8220;I tattooed the Strength card on my body.&#8221;</em></p><p>Both our jaws drop before we break out in a laugh that feels completely freeing, like the universe just winked at us. &#128513;</p><p>She&#8217;s a therapist. And her soul number is Strength. I mean, of course it is.</p><p>The Strength card reflects inner resilience. Compassion for yourself and others during hard seasons. A quiet, steady presence that holds space for discomfort without flinching. That&#8217;s what a great therapist does. She literally <em>is</em> that for so many people navigating their most uncertain, tender moments.</p><p>(And for what it&#8217;s worth, Strength is one of my two life numbers too. So maybe it takes one to know one. &#128521;)</p><p>It&#8217;s as if she resonated with that energy so deeply, felt it so much as her own, that she tattooed it on her body as a reminder. And her soul number confirmed exactly what she&#8217;d already been living.</p><p>Something I can&#8217;t explain, and also can&#8217;t deny.</p><p><strong>That&#8217;s the fascinating, unexpected truth at the heart of tarot numerology: your intuition already knows. It's been knowing. Long before anyone gives it a name or a number.</strong></p><p>When I enrolled in the Tarot and Numerology certification courses, my intention was simple: improve my intuition for <em>myself.</em></p><p>I&#8217;d been practicing intuition professionally for decades. As a holistic pediatrician, I&#8217;ve spent years tuning into children who can&#8217;t speak. Learning to sense what&#8217;s really underneath the surface when a family comes in struggling. Reading a room. Reading a body. Feeling into what&#8217;s present rather than waiting for someone to put it into words. &#129658;</p><p>Intuition for <em>others</em>? That&#8217;s just Tuesday.</p><p>But turning it inward, toward my own life, my own patterns, my own quietly running beliefs on the daily? That was my next level. So I enrolled. And what I found on the other side still surprises me.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sOnS!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc9c43b50-f4db-49ae-bfdc-8ac3e3eedd4c_1000x1500.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sOnS!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc9c43b50-f4db-49ae-bfdc-8ac3e3eedd4c_1000x1500.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sOnS!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc9c43b50-f4db-49ae-bfdc-8ac3e3eedd4c_1000x1500.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sOnS!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc9c43b50-f4db-49ae-bfdc-8ac3e3eedd4c_1000x1500.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sOnS!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc9c43b50-f4db-49ae-bfdc-8ac3e3eedd4c_1000x1500.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sOnS!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc9c43b50-f4db-49ae-bfdc-8ac3e3eedd4c_1000x1500.jpeg" width="1000" height="1500" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/c9c43b50-f4db-49ae-bfdc-8ac3e3eedd4c_1000x1500.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1500,&quot;width&quot;:1000,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:689545,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/i/202466745?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc9c43b50-f4db-49ae-bfdc-8ac3e3eedd4c_1000x1500.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sOnS!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc9c43b50-f4db-49ae-bfdc-8ac3e3eedd4c_1000x1500.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sOnS!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc9c43b50-f4db-49ae-bfdc-8ac3e3eedd4c_1000x1500.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sOnS!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc9c43b50-f4db-49ae-bfdc-8ac3e3eedd4c_1000x1500.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sOnS!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc9c43b50-f4db-49ae-bfdc-8ac3e3eedd4c_1000x1500.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe"><span>&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;</span></a></p><h2>&#10022; Unlock the Hidden Intuitive Power You&#8217;ve Always Had</h2><p>Your intuition speaks to you your entire life. Just in a language you may not recognize yet, even though you&#8217;ve been using it forever.</p><p>For example:</p><p>You walk into a room after an argument you weren&#8217;t even present for, and you feel it immediately. The air is different. Something is off. No one has to tell you anything. &#128566;&#8205;&#127787;&#65039;</p><p>You think of a friend out of nowhere, and ten minutes later she calls.</p><p>That&#8217;s the feeling language. And a tarot card speaks it fluently.</p><p><strong>And here&#8217;s the unexpected truth most women never get told: you don&#8217;t need more intuition. You need a way back to the one you&#8217;ve always had. And a tarot card is the perfect bridge.</strong></p><p>Most women I work with are so in relationship with their intellect (thinking, analyzing, planning, solving) that they&#8217;ve quietly lost the thread to that other way of knowing. So when a woman looks at a card and something shifts, it&#8217;s her subconscious mind finally getting a question it knows how to answer.</p><p>And here&#8217;s what that actually looks like in a session: &#10024;</p><p>A woman looks at a card. Really looks at it. And something shifts somewhere deep. Maybe her eyes well up. Maybe her mouth breaks into a smile that spreads across her whole face. Maybe she goes quiet in a way that feels like a long exhale, like she&#8217;s finally able to put down something she&#8217;s been carrying around for far too long. &#128558;&#8205;&#128168;</p><p>And then she says something out loud that she somehow already knows to be true, even though she&#8217;s never let herself say it. Something she buried a long time ago just climbs back up into the light. Recognized. Named. Finally seen.</p><p>That kind of truth feels like <em>yours.</em> Because it has been yours the whole time.</p><p><strong>A tarot card shows you something you already know and gives you just enough stillness to finally let yourself feel your truth.</strong></p><p>Twenty-five years in medicine taught me this: change the input, and you change the output. If it&#8217;s true for a child&#8217;s body, it&#8217;s true for a woman&#8217;s inner world. Tarot Numerology gives the subconscious mind a new question to answer, and what surfaces is the pattern that&#8217;s been quietly running your life. </p><p>Once you can see the pattern, feel its undeniable truth, you can choose to keep it or toss it. Your choice. &#11088;&#65039;</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VMaD!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F94307d00-c110-4ea8-9478-2da38a876f22_2725x4088.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VMaD!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F94307d00-c110-4ea8-9478-2da38a876f22_2725x4088.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VMaD!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F94307d00-c110-4ea8-9478-2da38a876f22_2725x4088.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VMaD!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F94307d00-c110-4ea8-9478-2da38a876f22_2725x4088.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VMaD!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F94307d00-c110-4ea8-9478-2da38a876f22_2725x4088.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VMaD!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F94307d00-c110-4ea8-9478-2da38a876f22_2725x4088.jpeg" width="1456" height="2184" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/94307d00-c110-4ea8-9478-2da38a876f22_2725x4088.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:2184,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:3333429,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/i/202466745?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F94307d00-c110-4ea8-9478-2da38a876f22_2725x4088.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VMaD!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F94307d00-c110-4ea8-9478-2da38a876f22_2725x4088.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VMaD!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F94307d00-c110-4ea8-9478-2da38a876f22_2725x4088.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VMaD!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F94307d00-c110-4ea8-9478-2da38a876f22_2725x4088.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VMaD!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F94307d00-c110-4ea8-9478-2da38a876f22_2725x4088.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:&quot;button-wrapper&quot;}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary button-wrapper" href="https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe"><span>&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;</span></a></p><h2>&#10022; The Fascinating Truth About Why Tarot Numerology Isn&#8217;t Mainstream Yet</h2><p>When I share with people that I use tarot in my coaching practice, I brace for the reaction. And honestly? It&#8217;s all over the map. </p><p>There's the wide-eyed <em>'Wow, that's amazing!'</em> And yes, also the tight-lipped <em>'huh... interesting'</em> followed by a very quick subject change.</p><p>But here's what I've also discovered: therapists use tarot in their practices too. Quietly. Without much fanfare. It&#8217;s just not mainstream yet.</p><p>Which is so perfectly, hilariously on-brand for me. &#129315;</p><p>Of course the holistic pediatrician turned coach, the one who spent 25 years practicing integrative medicine while most of the medical world was still catching up, finds the not-yet-mainstream tool for coaching.</p><p><strong>The fascinating truth is that tarot numerology works precisely </strong><em><strong>because</strong></em><strong> it bypasses the thinking mind.</strong> </p><p>Our culture is deeply, almost religiously committed to the thinking mind. We reward logic. We trust analysis. We promote the people who can build the spreadsheet, make the argument, show the data. &#128202;</p><p>The feeling language? We&#8217;re never really taught to trust it. Which is exactly why so many women over 40 arrive at this work feeling like something is missing. Their intuition never left them. Maybe no one ever handed them the key. &#128155;</p><p>Some of us were just built to be a little ahead of the curve. And if you&#8217;ve ever felt that way too, drawn to something you couldn&#8217;t fully explain, trusting a knowing before you had the words for it, I have a feeling tarot numerology is going to feel less like something new, and a lot more like coming home.</p><p>Just like that therapist, sitting across from me on a podcast, staring at a number that confirms what she&#8217;s already been living and wearing on her skin.</p><p>Your version of that moment is waiting too.</p><p>Are you curious? That&#8217;s all you need.</p><p>xo, <br>Dr. Sue</p><p><strong>P.S.</strong> Join me live every Friday at 11:30am Eastern on Substack. This week: <em><strong><a href="https://open.substack.com/live-stream/246214">Unlock Your Hidden Intuition With Tarot Numerology</a></strong>.</em> See you there. &#128155;</p><p><strong>P.P.S.</strong> Ready to go a little deeper? <strong><a href="https://www.drsuemccreadie.com/soulfull-tarot-numerology-hour">Soulfull Tarot Numerology Hour</a></strong> is a live, intimate gathering where we use tarot numerology to show you what&#8217;s been quietly shaping your life. Come curious. Leave lighter. &#128168;</p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Align Your Head and Heart — One Question Does It]]></title><description><![CDATA[Your head has a plan. Your heart has a different answer. Here's the one question that brings them back together.]]></description><link>https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/align-your-head-and-heart-one-question</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/align-your-head-and-heart-one-question</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Sue McCreadie, MD]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 12 Jun 2026 16:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-video.s3.amazonaws.com/video_upload/post/201756228/e7059a02-2336-4154-867a-a84cb592a979/transcoded-1782332950.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>My husband Dave has said this to me more than once: &#8220;Sue, you think you can do so much more than you can in the allotted time.&#8221; He&#8217;s a detailed guy. He actually measures how long things take. I, on the other hand, showed up to this live with wet hair. &#128514;</p><p>So yes &#8212; I am fully aware I&#8217;m the last person who should be giving advice about slowing down. And yet here I am, because this is exactly what I needed to hear this morning too.</p><p>If you&#8217;ve ever felt stuck &#8212; like you&#8217;re thinking a lot but nothing&#8217;s moving, or doing a lot but not manifesting the thing you actually want &#8212; I think I know what&#8217;s missing. And it&#8217;s probably not more thinking or more doing.</p><p>It&#8217;s the part most of us quietly skip.</p>
      <p>
          <a href="https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/align-your-head-and-heart-one-question">
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[How to Align Your Head and Heart When They Disagree]]></title><description><![CDATA[Your head and heart pulling you apart? Dr. Sue shares how to align your head and heart with one quiet question. Read now]]></description><link>https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/how-to-align-your-head-and-heart</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/how-to-align-your-head-and-heart</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Sue McCreadie, MD]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 12 Jun 2026 14:56:16 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/f7679423-47ab-42e0-bfa6-7e434c515cd9_1200x630.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>A while back, I broke. &#128558;&#8205;&#128168;</p><p>The quiet kind. The kind where you hold so much for so long that one ordinary Tuesday, you just can&#8217;t anymore.</p><p>I'm the one in charge of the medical side of caring for an aging parent. Maybe you are too. At the end of life, almost everything becomes medical, and the umbrella I carry for the family just keeps growing wider. Some days it feels like it covers the whole sky. I could carry it, so I did, until the weight of it all finally caught up with me. </p><p>What I found in that breaking was a quiet war going on inside me. My head said, <em>you&#8217;re responsible, you&#8217;ve got this, keep going.</em> My heart said, <em>I am so tired, and I cannot keep carrying this the way I have been.</em> Two truths, pulling opposite ways. And me, stuck in the middle, spinning.</p><p>Maybe you know that exact split. Maybe you&#8217;ve carried something heavy that everyone just assumed you&#8217;d keep carrying. Your head says one thing. Your heart says another. And no matter how hard you think about it, you can&#8217;t think your way out.</p><p><strong>That stuck place is the moment your head and your heart pull in opposite directions. Bringing them back onto the same team can feel like the hardest part of any real lasting change.</strong> &#128155;</p><p>It&#8217;s also how you finally get unstuck.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LZ_R!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F570a8658-f906-4225-b8cb-672248d2c574_2400x3600.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LZ_R!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F570a8658-f906-4225-b8cb-672248d2c574_2400x3600.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LZ_R!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F570a8658-f906-4225-b8cb-672248d2c574_2400x3600.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LZ_R!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F570a8658-f906-4225-b8cb-672248d2c574_2400x3600.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LZ_R!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F570a8658-f906-4225-b8cb-672248d2c574_2400x3600.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LZ_R!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F570a8658-f906-4225-b8cb-672248d2c574_2400x3600.jpeg" width="1456" height="2184" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/570a8658-f906-4225-b8cb-672248d2c574_2400x3600.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:2184,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:2587390,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/i/201438078?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F570a8658-f906-4225-b8cb-672248d2c574_2400x3600.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LZ_R!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F570a8658-f906-4225-b8cb-672248d2c574_2400x3600.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LZ_R!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F570a8658-f906-4225-b8cb-672248d2c574_2400x3600.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LZ_R!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F570a8658-f906-4225-b8cb-672248d2c574_2400x3600.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LZ_R!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F570a8658-f906-4225-b8cb-672248d2c574_2400x3600.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe"><span>&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;</span></a></p><h2>&#10022; Why Align Is the Step Everyone Gets Stuck On</h2><p>Transformation moves through three steps.</p><ol><li><p>You <strong>awaken</strong> to the pattern.</p></li><li><p>You <strong>align</strong> with what&#8217;s true.</p></li><li><p>You <strong>activate</strong> into action.</p></li></ol><p>Awaken is a head thing, conscious and smart, great at spotting the loop you keep running. Activate is a body thing, the doing, the steps, the go.</p><p>Align is the one in the middle, and it can feel sneaky-hard. It lives underneath the thinking and the doing. It&#8217;s a heart thing. A being thing. A felt thing. </p><p><strong>You can&#8217;t think or do your way into alignment. You can only get quiet enough to feel it. &#128524;</strong></p><p><em>(I know. If you love a good plan, hi, me too, &#8220;just feel it&#8221; is the most maddening instruction on earth. I still find myself resisting it because I&#8217;m naturally a doer.)</em></p><p>That&#8217;s why you can know exactly what you &#8220;should&#8221; do and still not do it. Some part of you never got on board. Your head signed the paperwork. Your heart never said yes.</p><p><strong><a href="https://lightseerstarot.com/light-seers-tarot-meanings-the-chariot/">The Chariot</a></strong><a href="https://lightseerstarot.com/light-seers-tarot-meanings-the-chariot/"> </a>card in tarot shows alignment, the art of harnessing your energies so they all move the same way. Two horses, one driver, and your head and your heart are the horses. When they pull in different directions, the chariot just sits there, going nowhere. All that effort, no movement. That&#8217;s exactly what being stuck feels like.</p><p>(Tarot, the way I work with it, is a psychological mirror, a way to glimpse what your subconscious already knows. Nothing to do with fortune-telling.)</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!elYB!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb78c6435-62c0-463a-8edc-e0f6c0469a1c_2400x3600.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!elYB!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb78c6435-62c0-463a-8edc-e0f6c0469a1c_2400x3600.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!elYB!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb78c6435-62c0-463a-8edc-e0f6c0469a1c_2400x3600.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!elYB!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb78c6435-62c0-463a-8edc-e0f6c0469a1c_2400x3600.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!elYB!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb78c6435-62c0-463a-8edc-e0f6c0469a1c_2400x3600.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!elYB!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb78c6435-62c0-463a-8edc-e0f6c0469a1c_2400x3600.jpeg" width="2400" height="3600" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/b78c6435-62c0-463a-8edc-e0f6c0469a1c_2400x3600.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:3600,&quot;width&quot;:2400,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:1615798,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/i/201438078?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9ce865ff-8506-4bba-a354-5b90d0081233_2400x3600.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!elYB!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb78c6435-62c0-463a-8edc-e0f6c0469a1c_2400x3600.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!elYB!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb78c6435-62c0-463a-8edc-e0f6c0469a1c_2400x3600.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!elYB!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb78c6435-62c0-463a-8edc-e0f6c0469a1c_2400x3600.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!elYB!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb78c6435-62c0-463a-8edc-e0f6c0469a1c_2400x3600.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:&quot;button-wrapper&quot;}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary button-wrapper" href="https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe"><span>&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;</span></a></p><h2>&#10022; The One Question That Aligns Head and Heart</h2><p>So how do the two horses ever face the same way, get on the same team, and pull toward the same goal again?</p><p>For the longest time, that stumped me. Then I started picturing the heart as a compass. Your heart is like a compass needle, and it always points to its own true north, the choice that&#8217;s aligned for you. It has known the whole time. </p><p><strong>You don&#8217;t have to figure out where true north is. North isn&#8217;t up for a vote. You just have to let the needle settle. &#129517;</strong></p><p>When you spin in your head, weighing every option, it&#8217;s like grabbing that compass and giving it a good shake. Suddenly all ten directions look right, and you&#8217;re somehow more lost than when you started. The spinning is just motion.</p><p>In a recent <strong><a href="https://www.drsuemccreadie.com/soulfull-membership">Soulfull Circle</a></strong>, a woman said something I&#8217;ve heard so many women over 40 say. She&#8217;s always been the responsible one. The fixer. The one everyone leans on. And right now, her head and her heart are at war over a hard boundary with someone she loves. She&#8217;s been shaking her compass for months, honestly years. Me, maybe you, too. &#129401;</p><p>Your head says, <em>this is what a good person does, keep showing up, keep smoothing it over.</em> Your heart says, <em>this is hurting me, and something has to change.</em></p><p>So when your head and your heart are at war, you can ask the question my clients have heard me ask a hundred times:</p><p><strong>What would love do? &#128155;</strong></p><p>(The funny part? One of the women beat me to it, the way my kids love to quote my own words right back to me. &#128517;)</p><p>Underneath that question is the one that really unlocks it. How would love <em>be</em>, right here, in this exact moment?</p><p><strong>Alignment is a way of being. You feel how love would be right here, and from that being place, the knowing-what-to-do arrives on its own.</strong> &#129419;</p><h2>&#10022; When Love Points to Acceptance</h2><p>Your heart, your true north, can point somewhere your head doesn&#8217;t want to go. Sometimes it points to acceptance. And that&#8217;s where a lot of women freeze. Accept it? But I don&#8217;t approve of it.</p><p>Accepting what is doesn&#8217;t mean approving of it. It only means you&#8217;ve stopped pretending it&#8217;s something else, so your energy is free to move again. I went deep on that difference <strong><a href="https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/your-healing-journey-starts-with">right here</a></strong> if it&#8217;s tugging at you.</p><p>The needle can&#8217;t settle while your hand is still on the compass, pressing it toward the direction you wish were true. Acceptance is taking your hand off. It&#8217;s being done pretending the needle points somewhere else.</p><p>You can disagree with someone completely, you can dislike a situation with your whole heart, and still come into enough alignment to keep moving in the same direction toward what matters.</p><p>In caring for an aging parent, what I finally had to accept was harder to admit. I&#8217;d made every problem my problem to solve. Every single one. And somewhere in there, I&#8217;d forgotten something obvious. I&#8217;m one of a whole team of siblings, and each of us has different strengths. I could accept what is, that this is too much for me to carry alone, and get resourceful, and ask for support. That&#8217;s what love would do! &#128521;</p><p><strong>Your head wants to fix, control, and win. <br>Your heart just wants peace. &#128330;&#65039;</strong></p><p>So if you&#8217;re caught in a head-and-heart war today, try it. Get quiet and feel how love would be, right here, in this moment. Once you can feel that, the knowing-what-to-do shows up on its own.</p><p><strong>Your peace is never waiting on anyone or anything else to change. It&#8217;s waiting for you to come home to your true north. &#128155;</strong></p><p>xo, <br>Dr. Sue</p><p><strong>P.S.</strong> Every Friday at 11:30am Eastern, I go live on Substack, and I would love for you to be there. This week I&#8217;m going deeper into the Align step and how to feel your way through when your head and your heart disagree. <strong><a href="https://open.substack.com/live-stream/238913?utm_source=live-stream-scheduled-upsell">Align Your Head and Heart &#8212; One Question Does It</a>.</strong> See you there. &#128155;</p><p><strong>P.P.S.</strong> This is exactly the work we do together, every single week, inside the <strong><a href="https://www.drsuemccreadie.com/soulfull-membership">Soulfull Path Membership</a></strong>. If you&#8217;re tired of untangling your head and heart all alone in a journal at midnight, come find your people. We&#8217;ve got you. <strong><a href="https://www.drsuemccreadie.com/soulfull-membership">Join us here &#8594;</a> &#127793;</strong></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[How to Believe in Yourself Even When You're Being Really Hard on Yourself]]></title><description><![CDATA[The inner critic is loud. But it's also lying about one very specific thing.]]></description><link>https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/how-to-believe-in-yourself-even-when</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/how-to-believe-in-yourself-even-when</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Sue McCreadie, MD]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 16:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-video.s3.amazonaws.com/video_upload/post/200750694/565227ed-951c-41a5-b8b6-620d4a4026d0/transcoded-1781113784.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>You&#8217;re building something. Maybe it&#8217;s life after the kids left. Maybe it&#8217;s a new relationship with yourself after a big change. Maybe it&#8217;s a version of you that&#8217;s finally ready to be seen.</p><p>And somewhere along the way, you got hard on yourself. Really hard. &#128532;</p><p>The inner voice that says <em>I should be further along by now. Why am I still here? What is wrong with me?</em> That voice. I know it well. I go there too.</p><p>What I&#8217;ve noticed &#8212; in 25 years of practice with patients, in coaching, and in my own life &#8212; is that self-beat-up has a pattern. And once you can see the pattern, everything shifts.</p>
      <p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[How to Believe in Yourself Before It's Too Late]]></title><description><![CDATA[That peace-filled, grateful feeling you keep saving for the finish line? You can have it today, mid-climb.]]></description><link>https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/how-to-believe-in-yourself-before</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/how-to-believe-in-yourself-before</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Sue McCreadie, MD]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 11:54:01 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Uq2G!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcb2f76d4-69eb-4a32-8906-022e1b9afe45_2400x3600.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>You&#8217;re building something.</p><p>Maybe it&#8217;s a business, or the passion project you keep growing on the side. Maybe it&#8217;s a whole life after the kids moved out and the house went quiet. Maybe it&#8217;s the next chapter after a divorce, the one you&#8217;re writing from scratch. Maybe it&#8217;s a body that moves and feels the way you want it to again. Maybe it&#8217;s just the next, truer version of you, still under construction.</p><p>Whatever you&#8217;re building, you&#8217;re pouring yourself into it with countless small efforts nobody sees. &#129401;</p><p>And maybe without even realizing it, you made a deal: you'll let yourself feel good about it once it's done, once there's proof. Until then? Head down. No credit. Finish line or bust.</p><p>I know that deal intimately. I keep making it too. But there&#8217;s a trap inside it, and I learned it the hard way on an actual mountain.</p><p>A while back I trained for nearly two years to bike up Mount Washington, one of the steepest bike climbs in the world. I summited it. (That whole wild story is <strong><a href="https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/when-you-forget-you-can-do-hard-things">right here</a></strong>.) And by dinner that very night, I&#8217;d already decided I&#8217;d gone too slow, stopped too often, basically come in last. Even though I&#8217;d just climbed uphill 4,000 feet on a bike, somehow it still wasn&#8217;t even enough. &#129320;</p><p>If summiting a literal mountain couldn't make me proud, no finish line ever would. That's the trap. </p><p><strong>The good feeling you keep saving for "once it's done" never actually arrives, because the moment you get there, your mind has already moved the line. &#129402;</strong></p><p>Keep that up, and a whole life can pass while you wait to feel good about it. </p><p>The mind is so powerful. It&#8217;s always doing one of two things. Either it&#8217;s working for you, generating the emotions that feel good on the way to where you&#8217;re going, or it&#8217;s quietly stealing the joy right out of your path.</p><p><strong>What if you could wield your mind to feel good about yourself mid-climb, long before the dream destination?</strong> </p><p>That feeling, whatever you call it, is what believing in yourself feels like, and it&#8217;s fuel. With it, you&#8217;re bound to hit the moon as you reach for the stars. &#10024;</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Uq2G!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcb2f76d4-69eb-4a32-8906-022e1b9afe45_2400x3600.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Uq2G!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcb2f76d4-69eb-4a32-8906-022e1b9afe45_2400x3600.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Uq2G!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcb2f76d4-69eb-4a32-8906-022e1b9afe45_2400x3600.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Uq2G!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcb2f76d4-69eb-4a32-8906-022e1b9afe45_2400x3600.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Uq2G!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcb2f76d4-69eb-4a32-8906-022e1b9afe45_2400x3600.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Uq2G!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcb2f76d4-69eb-4a32-8906-022e1b9afe45_2400x3600.jpeg" width="1456" height="2184" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Uq2G!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcb2f76d4-69eb-4a32-8906-022e1b9afe45_2400x3600.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Uq2G!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcb2f76d4-69eb-4a32-8906-022e1b9afe45_2400x3600.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Uq2G!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcb2f76d4-69eb-4a32-8906-022e1b9afe45_2400x3600.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Uq2G!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcb2f76d4-69eb-4a32-8906-022e1b9afe45_2400x3600.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe"><span>&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;</span></a></p><h2>&#10022; Self-Trust: Believing in Yourself Mid-Climb</h2><p>So if the finish line can&#8217;t make you feel proud, what can?</p><p>You can. By giving yourself credit right now, before there&#8217;s a single piece of proof.</p><p>After a challenging bike ride or hike, legs shaking, instead of replaying everything I could have done better, I say it out loud to myself:</p><p><em>I&#8217;m proud of you, Sue.</em> &#128517;</p><p>You might say something different. The words matter less than the feel-good flush of acknowledging yourself.</p><p><strong>That's self-trust, the credit you hand yourself along the way, long before you've arrived anywhere.</strong></p><p>I&#8217;m learning to let that &#8220;you&#8217;re a total rockstar&#8221; voice speak up more often. It's not easy, especially when the climb feels more like a faceplant and you can't find one good thing to say about yourself.</p><p><strong>Here&#8217;s how to believe in yourself on a hard day:</strong></p><p>Don&#8217;t try to force a feeling. Check your focus instead. </p><p>Ask yourself:</p><p><em>Am I focused on&#8230;</em></p><ul><li><p>The past, on what&#8217;s already behind me?</p></li><li><p>The future, on what&#8217;s not yet here?</p></li><li><p>Everything that&#8217;s not working?</p></li><li><p>All the things I can&#8217;t control?</p></li></ul><p><em>Then, shift your focus to&#8230;</em></p><ul><li><p>What&#8217;s already here?</p></li><li><p>What&#8217;s already going right?</p></li><li><p>One thing I can actually influence today. </p></li></ul><p>Notice how that shift fills you back up with something that feels good, a little peace, a little possibility? Because&#8230;.</p><p><strong>You feel what you focus on, and those feelings are your fuel.</strong> </p><p>Believe in yourself, let that good feeling in, and it carries you up the mountain. Beat yourself up instead, and you stay stuck at the bottom, feeling terrible and going nowhere. &#128529;</p><p>What keeps me climbing on the genuinely hard days, when the wobble gets loud, is my unwavering focus on the woman I&#8217;m here to support. I picture her whole and healing, and how that ripples to everyone she loves.</p><p>Hurt people hurt people, and healed people heal people.</p><p>When I focus on that ripple, I feel it right in my heart, pulling me forward. Honestly, it usually leaves me a little teary (in a feel good way), because it&#8217;s my soul&#8217;s purpose to help another ease their suffering. That&#8217;s why I&#8217;m here. &#128155;</p><p><strong>How about you? What could you focus on to feel even more peace, joy, possibility?</strong></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lXph!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd4fe4e6-a260-4e3d-adf0-d390ab17f2fc_1600x2400.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lXph!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd4fe4e6-a260-4e3d-adf0-d390ab17f2fc_1600x2400.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lXph!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd4fe4e6-a260-4e3d-adf0-d390ab17f2fc_1600x2400.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lXph!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd4fe4e6-a260-4e3d-adf0-d390ab17f2fc_1600x2400.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lXph!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd4fe4e6-a260-4e3d-adf0-d390ab17f2fc_1600x2400.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lXph!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd4fe4e6-a260-4e3d-adf0-d390ab17f2fc_1600x2400.jpeg" width="1456" height="2184" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lXph!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd4fe4e6-a260-4e3d-adf0-d390ab17f2fc_1600x2400.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lXph!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd4fe4e6-a260-4e3d-adf0-d390ab17f2fc_1600x2400.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lXph!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd4fe4e6-a260-4e3d-adf0-d390ab17f2fc_1600x2400.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lXph!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd4fe4e6-a260-4e3d-adf0-d390ab17f2fc_1600x2400.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:&quot;button-wrapper&quot;}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary button-wrapper" href="https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe"><span>&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;</span></a></p><h2>&#10022; You Can Do Hard Things. This Is One of Them.</h2><p>Starting the passion project, starting over after divorce, starting your next chapter after the kids move out, or starting to share an even more authentic version of you, that&#8217;s the hard stuff, and you&#8217;re doing it. You can do hard things; you&#8217;re living proof. &#128151;</p><p>So let yourself feel good about the unfinished, unglamorous middle. Right now. Before it turns a profit, before the body cooperates, before the new chapter looks like anything at all from the outside.</p><p>You don&#8217;t have to wait until it&#8217;s done to believe in yourself. Letting that good feeling in now, that <em>is</em> believing in yourself. The done version was never the point. </p><p><strong>The real too-late is spending years with your head down, waiting to feel good about a life you were living the whole time. </strong>&#129401;</p><p><em>So just for a moment, close your eyes and picture someone who loves you wrapping you in the biggest hug, squeezing you so tight, so proud of you they can barely stand it.</em> </p><p>And let that gorgeousness soak all the way in, no matter how unfinished you feel.</p><p>xo, <br>Dr. Sue</p><p><strong>P.S. Climbing something big right now?</strong> You don't have to do it alone. <strong><a href="https://www.drsuemccreadie.com/soulfull-membership">Soulfull Membership</a></strong> is where women just like you stop beating themselves up and start believing in themselves mid-climb, together. <strong><a href="https://www.drsuemccreadie.com/soulfull-membership">Join us here &#8594;</a></strong> &#128155;</p><p><strong>P.P.S. Join me live every Friday</strong> at 11:30am Eastern on Substack. This week: <strong><a href="https://open.substack.com/live-stream/229963?utm_source=live-stream-scheduled-upsell">Stop Beating Yourself Up. Believe in Yourself Now.</a></strong> See you there &#8594; &#128155;</p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Focus on Your Goals — and Finally Enjoy the Ride]]></title><description><![CDATA[What if the tightest grip you have right now is the exact thing slowing you down?]]></description><link>https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/focus-on-your-goals-and-finally-enjoy</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/focus-on-your-goals-and-finally-enjoy</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Sue McCreadie, MD]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 29 May 2026 16:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-video.s3.amazonaws.com/video_upload/post/199585147/d53b215a-ff9e-4a5b-9070-18246c63099d/transcoded-1781113771.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I got on camera today with wet hair. I decided to shower, then realized I didn&#8217;t have time to dry it, scrunched it, and got on anyway. &#128514; </p><p>That&#8217;s just life sometimes. And honestly? It felt kind of great. No death grip on how I&#8217;m supposed to show up. Just me, here, with you.</p><p>Which is a perfect setup for what I&#8217;ve been sitting with this week. I was riding on the Peloton app and the instructor, Christian Vande Velde, a professional cyclist, said something in the middle of the ride that I couldn&#8217;t shake: &#8220;Release your death grip.&#8221; He was talking about hands on the handlebars. But my brain immediately went somewhere else. Because I knew exactly what I was death gripping in my own life. </p><p><strong>Gripping that tightly does nothing to move you forward. It&#8217;s just a colossal waste of energy.</strong></p><p>Maybe you, like me, go to your head first. And recently I caught myself doing the exact thing I teach women not to do. Gripping so hard. Pretending I wasn&#8217;t. I share what it was in this live &#8212; and yeah, it was a little humbling to say out loud. &#128556;</p>
      <p>
          <a href="https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/focus-on-your-goals-and-finally-enjoy">
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[How to Focus on Your Goals When You Can't Control the Outcome]]></title><description><![CDATA[Struggling to focus on your goals when the outcome won't cooperate? Your heart smarts hold the answer. Read this and discover the shift that changes everything.]]></description><link>https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/how-to-focus-on-your-goals-when-you</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/how-to-focus-on-your-goals-when-you</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Sue McCreadie, MD]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 28 May 2026 11:12:27 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/2a3629db-25b3-41c3-b0dd-3216694ce758_1200x630.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>My Peloton instructor said it mid-climb, calm as anything: <em>&#8220;Release your death grip.&#8221;</em> &#128556;</p><p>He was talking about the handlebars. My mind went straight to my mom.</p><p>She&#8217;s in her 90s, living in a skilled nursing facility now. I&#8217;m her medical power of attorney, her advocate, her daughter &#8212; a whole plane ride away. And somewhere in the complexity of that role, I catch myself time and time again: death-gripping her story. The way it should go. The ending I need it to have.</p><p>My head locks in on how &#8220;she should&#8221; focus on what&#8217;s going right instead of wrong &#8212; why can&#8217;t she see it the way I do? I find myself wanting to rewrite her experience into something more positive, more peaceful, more the way I&#8217;d want it for myself in life&#8217;s final chapter.</p><p>If I were holding handlebars right now, you&#8217;d see my knuckles white.</p><p>And underneath every single one of those shoulds is the same thing: my head trying to control something I was never meant to control. Because the truth &#8212; the one my heart knows even when my head won&#8217;t quit &#8212; is that she&#8217;s already living her story perfectly for her soul. She&#8217;s the hero, and it&#8217;s her ending to create with her Creator. Who died and made me God? No one, thank goodness. &#128517;</p><p><strong>The hardest thing is trusting that something wiser than you is already holding on.</strong></p><p>That&#8217;s where I have to keep returning. And I&#8217;m guessing you have a place like that too &#8212; where the grip is tight and the knuckles are white. It might be your body, changing in ways the plan didn&#8217;t include. Your marriage, drifted somewhere unfamiliar. An adult child making choices you wouldn&#8217;t make. A purpose that keeps rerouting. An aging parent whose story is unfolding on its own terms.</p><p>The pattern is always the same &#8212; only the handlebars change. </p><p><strong>Your head smarts want to control the outcome.</strong> <strong>Your heart smarts know how to focus on your goals without it. &#129419;</strong></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!v_k8!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3f833eb1-cef8-4201-9b1a-0d78bfe48980_1600x2400.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!v_k8!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3f833eb1-cef8-4201-9b1a-0d78bfe48980_1600x2400.jpeg 424w, 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stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe"><span>&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;</span></a></p><h3>&#10022; The Two Grips: Which One Is Running You?</h3><p>There are really two ways to move through something hard &#8212; and the secret is knowing when to use each one.</p><p><strong>Head smarts (intellect)</strong> push. They analyze, drive, and power things forward through sheer will. For certain things, they&#8217;re exactly the right tool. But they have a ceiling. Past that ceiling, you&#8217;re just clutching handlebars that aren&#8217;t connected to the pedals. &#128556;</p><p><strong>Heart smarts (intuition)</strong> pull. They&#8217;re quieter &#8212; the GPS of the soul. You can feel it, hear it, see it, or just know it without knowing why. Where head smarts <em>drive</em> you forward, heart smarts <em>draw</em> you forward. It feels like surrender &#8212; not giving up, but trusting something wiser to take the wheel. &#128591;</p><p>Maybe you, like me, live in a world that runs on head smarts &#8212; and somewhere along the way you forgot the most powerful tool you have: heart smarts. </p><p>It's easy to default to your intellect out of comfort and forget that your heart is the most powerful force you have. Think about what you've done for the people you love. The things you thought you could never do, that you somehow did anyway. That's not intellect. That's heart. </p><p><strong>Love is the strongest force there is. &#127754;&#128151;</strong></p><p>And love is exactly what keeps you focused on your goals when the outcome won't cooperate.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!s4G1!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7c07fbb2-5d01-49b3-bfc2-b8ed6f37a0ba_2400x3598.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!s4G1!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7c07fbb2-5d01-49b3-bfc2-b8ed6f37a0ba_2400x3598.jpeg 424w, 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class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:&quot;button-wrapper&quot;}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary button-wrapper" href="https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe"><span>&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;</span></a></p><h3>&#10022; How to Focus on Your Goals Without White-Knuckling the Outcome</h3><p>You don&#8217;t have to choose between caring deeply about something and releasing how it unfolds. Whether you&#8217;re trying to reconnect with your partner, make peace with your changing body, show up for an aging parent, rediscover a passion you&#8217;ve put on hold, or build something that&#8217;s taken longer than you planned &#8212; this applies to you.</p><p>Head smarts and heart smarts each have their own zone of genius. When they stop competing and start collaborating, something shifts. They merge into a third space &#8212; focus and flow &#8212; and that&#8217;s what moves you toward your desired goal with ease instead of force.</p><div><hr></div><p>Here are two ways to find that &#8220;focus and flow&#8221; space:</p><p><strong>QUIET THE MIND:</strong> <br>Heart smarts can&#8217;t get a word in when your head is running the show at full volume. </p><p><em>Whatever gets you out of your head and back into your body &#8212; breathe, write, pray, play.</em> &#129336;&#127999;&#8205;&#9792;&#65039;</p><p><strong>The answer you&#8217;ve been forcing is usually already there, waiting for you to get still enough to hear it.</strong></p><p><strong>OPEN YOUR HEART:<br></strong>The fastest way into your heart is through stacking gratitude. Your head is already stacking everything that&#8217;s not here yet, everything that&#8217;s not going right, everything that&#8217;s taking too long. So give your heart a turn. </p><p><em>Gratitude Stacking: Place your hands on your heart and breathe. Then bring to mind someone or something &#8212; past, present, or future &#8212; that you&#8217;re incredibly grateful for. Let it land in your heart and breathe. Then stack another. And another. As you stack one on top of the other, watch how it becomes impossible to hold onto what&#8217;s not going right or taking too long. </em>&#128155;</p><p><strong>Here you can finally feel it, hear it, see it, or just know it &#8212; the answer that was there all along.</strong></p><p>And from that place, focusing on your goals stops feeling like a death grip and starts feeling like a dance. I know this because I&#8217;m still learning it myself and probably will as long as I live. I&#8217;m human. &#129315;</p><div><hr></div><p>It is so hard to stop pushing. And yet every time I do, I arrive somewhere my head could never have taken me.</p><p>My mom is still in her 90s, still in that facility, still living her story her way. Some days I hold it loosely. Some days my knuckles go white again. &#128517;</p><p>She&#8217;s the hero. I&#8217;m just here to love her.</p><p><strong>And love &#8212; that&#8217;s the whole thing. It always is.</strong></p><p>The head grip promises control. The heart grip delivers something far better: the right destination, in divine timing, with enough peace left over to actually enjoy it.</p><p>May you release your grip and let your heart lead. It already knows the way. &#128155;</p><p>xo, <br>Dr. Sue</p><p><strong>P.S.</strong> <strong>Want to go deeper?</strong> <strong><a href="https://www.drsuemccreadie.com/soulfull-membership">Soulfull Membership</a></strong> is where women just like you come to loosen the grip and actually enjoy the journey &#8212; together. <strong><a href="https://www.drsuemccreadie.com/soulfull-membership">Join us here &#8594;</a> &#10024;</strong></p><p><strong>P.P.S.</strong> <strong>Join me live</strong><a href="https://open.substack.com/live-stream/219288"> </a>&#8212; every Friday at 11:30 am Eastern on Substack. This week: <em><strong><a href="https://open.substack.com/live-stream/219288">Focus on Your Goals &#8212; and Finally Enjoy the Ride</a></strong>.</em> See you there<strong> &#8594; &#128155;</strong></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[When Life Rewrites Your Story: Reclaim Your Healing Journey ✨]]></title><description><![CDATA[What if the hardest part of healing isn't the pain itself &#8212; but the moment you finally stop fighting it?]]></description><link>https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/when-life-rewrites-your-story-reclaim</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/when-life-rewrites-your-story-reclaim</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Sue McCreadie, MD]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 22 May 2026 16:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-video.s3.amazonaws.com/video_upload/post/198685024/177c7700-93c4-471c-83c8-77f13079ffe9/transcoded-1779489946.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>My daughter warned me. <em>&#8220;Don&#8217;t watch it, Mom.&#8221;</em> And honestly? That should have been enough. &#128514;</p><p>I watched it anyway. <em><strong><a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81256740">One Day</a></strong></em> on Netflix. And when it ended &#8212; not the way I wanted &#8212; something cracked open. It brought me straight back to a season of my own life, more than 20 years ago, when I came face to face with an ending I never asked for. One I resisted for a long time.</p><p>Maybe you, like me, have had something this year go sideways in a direction you didn&#8217;t choose. A health shift. A relationship that changed shape. A chapter that closed before you were ready. <strong><a href="https://www.tonyrobbins.com/">Tony Robbins</a></strong> says the quality of your life is directly related to how much uncertainty you can comfortably handle. And right now? Life is asking a lot. &#128579;</p><p><strong>You might think the healing journey starts with feeling better. It doesn&#8217;t. It starts somewhere you&#8217;re probably quietly, stubbornly avoiding.</strong></p><p>In this week&#8217;s <em>Soulfull Medicine Live</em>, I share what my own resistance looked like during one of the hardest seasons of my life &#8212; and the moment I finally stopped spinning.</p>
      <p>
          <a href="https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/when-life-rewrites-your-story-reclaim">
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Your Healing Journey Starts With This One Unexpected Word]]></title><description><![CDATA[Grief doesn't have a finish line. But on the other side of acceptance is something you couldn't have learned any other way.]]></description><link>https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/your-healing-journey-starts-with</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/your-healing-journey-starts-with</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Sue McCreadie, MD]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 21 May 2026 11:14:36 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3G91!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63b48143-8d51-4269-9122-60f585011aa8_1600x2400.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I was five minutes from the end of <em><strong><a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81256740">One Day</a></strong></em> when I felt it &#8212; that quiet dread of a story not going where you need it to go. &#128556;</p><p>My daughter had warned me. She&#8217;d literally texted me: <em>&#8220;Mom. Don&#8217;t watch it.&#8221;</em> I watched it anyway. (This is who I am.)</p><p>And then the ending came. And it wasn&#8217;t the one I wanted. I wanted them together. I wanted the baby in their arms. I wanted the whole messy, beautiful, worth-it-in-the-end Hollywood wrap-up. Instead I get real life dressed up in good lighting &#8212; and I&#8217;m sitting there on my couch, alone, just... sad. &#128557;</p><p>But here&#8217;s the thing I didn&#8217;t expect. I wasn&#8217;t just sad about a show.</p><p>I recognize something in that ending &#8212; the specific ache of wanting a story to go one way and watching it go another. Of sitting with your arms open, ready to receive something, and leaving empty. I&#8217;ve been in that place. With real loss. Miscarriages &#8212; more than one &#8212; and though I&#8217;ve done so much work on that grief, a Netflix finale cracks it back open at 9 pm on a Tuesday like it&#8217;s nothing.</p><p>Because that&#8217;s the thing about grief nobody warns you about. It doesn&#8217;t have a finish line. It doesn&#8217;t get <em>done</em>. It just changes shape. It gets quieter, softer, more manageable &#8212; and then one day a story ends that wasn&#8217;t even yours, and there it is again. Waving. &#128075;</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3G91!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63b48143-8d51-4269-9122-60f585011aa8_1600x2400.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3G91!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63b48143-8d51-4269-9122-60f585011aa8_1600x2400.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3G91!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63b48143-8d51-4269-9122-60f585011aa8_1600x2400.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3G91!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63b48143-8d51-4269-9122-60f585011aa8_1600x2400.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3G91!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63b48143-8d51-4269-9122-60f585011aa8_1600x2400.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3G91!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63b48143-8d51-4269-9122-60f585011aa8_1600x2400.jpeg" width="1456" height="2184" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/63b48143-8d51-4269-9122-60f585011aa8_1600x2400.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:2184,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:1259524,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/i/198113894?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63b48143-8d51-4269-9122-60f585011aa8_1600x2400.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3G91!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63b48143-8d51-4269-9122-60f585011aa8_1600x2400.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3G91!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63b48143-8d51-4269-9122-60f585011aa8_1600x2400.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3G91!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63b48143-8d51-4269-9122-60f585011aa8_1600x2400.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3G91!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63b48143-8d51-4269-9122-60f585011aa8_1600x2400.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe"><span>&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;</span></a></p><h2>&#10022; The Eye-Opening Truth: Where Your Healing Journey Really Begins</h2><p>Recently, I sat with a patient&#8217;s mom &#8212; she had just experienced a loss in her third trimester. One of the most profound losses a person can carry.</p><p>I hold space for her the way you do when words feel too small for the room. And somewhere in that silence, my own grief shows up quietly and sits down beside me. Mine is twenty years old. Hers is two weeks old. And yet in that moment, there&#8217;s no distance between them &#8212; loss doesn&#8217;t really age the way we think it does. &#129293;</p><p>What strikes me isn&#8217;t the sadness, though there&#8217;s plenty of that. It&#8217;s the connection. The way grief, when we stop hiding it, becomes the thing that reaches across a room and says <em>me too.</em> The way two women can hold something heavy together and somehow make it lighter just by not being alone in it.</p><p>And that&#8217;s what I want to pass straight to you: you are not uniquely cursed. You are not the only one sitting on the couch at the end of a story that didn&#8217;t go your way. <strong><a href="https://www.drsuemccreadie.com/soulfull-membership">There is an entire quiet sisterhood of women who know exactly what your arms feel like when they&#8217;re empty.</a></strong> And we are all, in our own way, still learning how to carry it.</p><p>So let&#8217;s talk about the word that gets thrown around a lot in moments like this.</p><h4>Acceptance. </h4><p><em>Ugh, I know. Bear with me. </em>&#128591;</p><p>Here&#8217;s the thing &#8212; and I say this as someone who has looked this word up more than once hoping it would reveal something new &#8212; acceptance and approval are actually two completely different things. The dictionary knows. I checked.</p><p><strong>Acceptance means acknowledging what is.</strong> As in: <em>I accept that the restaurant is out of chocolate cake.</em> (Devastating. Valid.) </p><p><strong>Approval means stamping your okay-ness onto it.</strong> As in: <em>I approve of there being no chocolate cake.</em> (Which &#8212; absolutely not. Hard no.)</p><p>You are never being asked to approve of your loss. You are never being asked to say <em>this is fine, actually</em> about something that broke your heart. </p><p>Acceptance is the quiet decision to stop arguing with what already is &#8212; so you have enough energy left to figure out what comes next.</p><p>And what comes next is a choice. A quiet fork in the road that appears somewhere in the middle of the grief.</p><p><strong>Path One: Resistance</strong> &#128548;</p><p>Stay in the storm. Circle the loss. Replay the ending. Steam, sob, go numb. This path is real and often necessary &#8212; you don&#8217;t have to leave it before you&#8217;re ready.</p><p><strong>Path Two: Acceptance</strong> &#128591;</p><p>Stop arguing with what already is. Lift your eyes slightly toward the possibility that there&#8217;s a bigger picture &#8212; a meaning behind the moment, a story being written at a level you can&#8217;t quite see yet. Maybe the ending you didn&#8217;t get is making room for something you haven&#8217;t imagined yet. &#10024;</p><p><strong>The bright side finds you &#8212; when you stop fighting the dark. &#9728;&#65039;</strong></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lbUJ!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F578d450a-7288-43b6-ad20-06ca9eb1cc9b_1130x1500.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lbUJ!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F578d450a-7288-43b6-ad20-06ca9eb1cc9b_1130x1500.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lbUJ!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F578d450a-7288-43b6-ad20-06ca9eb1cc9b_1130x1500.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lbUJ!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F578d450a-7288-43b6-ad20-06ca9eb1cc9b_1130x1500.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lbUJ!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F578d450a-7288-43b6-ad20-06ca9eb1cc9b_1130x1500.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lbUJ!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F578d450a-7288-43b6-ad20-06ca9eb1cc9b_1130x1500.jpeg" width="1130" height="1500" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/578d450a-7288-43b6-ad20-06ca9eb1cc9b_1130x1500.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1500,&quot;width&quot;:1130,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:824504,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/i/198113894?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F578d450a-7288-43b6-ad20-06ca9eb1cc9b_1130x1500.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lbUJ!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F578d450a-7288-43b6-ad20-06ca9eb1cc9b_1130x1500.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lbUJ!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F578d450a-7288-43b6-ad20-06ca9eb1cc9b_1130x1500.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lbUJ!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F578d450a-7288-43b6-ad20-06ca9eb1cc9b_1130x1500.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lbUJ!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F578d450a-7288-43b6-ad20-06ca9eb1cc9b_1130x1500.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:&quot;button-wrapper&quot;}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary button-wrapper" href="https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe"><span>&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;</span></a></p><h2>&#10022; What the Healing Journey Actually Looks Like</h2><p>The clouds don&#8217;t part all at once. What happens is slower and quieter than that.</p><p>For me, it often starts in stillness &#8212; the kind where you show up with a journal and pour whatever&#8217;s in your heart onto the page. Even when what&#8217;s in your heart is anger. Even when the pen moves in circles, because that&#8217;s the only thing that makes sense. I call it journaling with Spirit, and sometimes I scribble. I cry on the paper. And slowly, in that mess of ink and honesty, something starts to shift. &#127780;&#65039;</p><p>You stop yelling at God for not giving you what you want and start being present with love &#8212; feeling its wild ride of emotions &#8212; instead. </p><p>And what I find on the other side of all that sitting and surrendering &#8212; when I finally stop fighting the ending I didn&#8217;t get &#8212; is something I can only describe one way: it teaches me about love.</p><p>Not the love you receive. The love you <em>become.</em> &#128151;</p><p>Because sometimes the things that crack us open are the only teachers capable of teaching certain lessons. Happiness is a beautiful teacher &#8212; but it can&#8217;t teach you everything. Some things &#8212; the deep things, the marrow things &#8212; only come through grief. Through darkness. Through the long shadow of a story that didn&#8217;t end the way you needed it to.</p><p><strong>Sadness and grief are a way we learn. A profound way. And what they teach us, we simply cannot learn through happy things alone. &#128330;&#65039;</strong></p><p>The losses make me softer where I&#8217;d been hard. More present where I&#8217;d been distracted. More willing to sit in the dark with another person &#8212; because I know what it feels like to need someone to sit there with me.</p><p>I would not be the physician and coach I am today without them. And honestly? I think that might have been the point all along. &#128591;</p><p>If you&#8217;re in the middle of an unexpected ending right now &#8212; you don&#8217;t have to fix it today. You don&#8217;t have to find the meaning today. You don&#8217;t have to feel okay about any of it today. </p><p>You just have to stay. Keep showing up to the journal, the stillness, the quiet conversation with whatever you call Source. Let the grief teach you what only grief can teach. And trust &#8212; even when it&#8217;s hard &#8212; that the story knows where it&#8217;s going, even when you don&#8217;t. &#10024;</p><p><strong><a href="https://www.drsuemccreadie.com/soulfull-membership">You are not alone in this.</a></strong> Not even close. &#128155;</p><p>xo, <br>Dr. Sue</p><p><strong>P.S.</strong> <strong>Want to go deeper on this together?</strong> <strong>I'm going live for 20 minutes on exactly this</strong> &#8212; <strong><a href="https://open.substack.com/live-stream/210932?utm_source=live-stream-scheduled-upsell">life's unexpected endings and how to reclaim your healing journey forward</a></strong>. Come as you are, bring your journal, and let's do this together. &#128591;&#10024;</p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Presence Over Perfect: The One Thing Everyone You Love Is Hungry For]]></title><description><![CDATA[Does the person sitting right across from you actually feel how much you love them?]]></description><link>https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/presence-over-perfect-the-one-thing</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/presence-over-perfect-the-one-thing</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Sue McCreadie, MD]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 15 May 2026 16:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-video.s3.amazonaws.com/video_upload/post/197720539/48ba2669-7445-42da-8382-b78097c2a045/transcoded-1779135385.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>My daughters call me out regularly. &#8220;Mom, are you even listening?&#8221; And honestly? Sometimes I&#8217;m not. I think I am &#8212; but I&#8217;m actually three problems ahead, half in my own head, already solving something that hasn&#8217;t happened yet. &#128565;&#8205;&#128171;</p><p>I&#8217;ve been thinking about this a lot lately &#8212; because I finished the new Netflix documentary <em><strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBvYXE6oZ64">Marty, Life is Short</a></strong></em> with Dave, my husband, and afterward we both just sat there like... huh. Are we even living? Because Martin Short is so completely, fully present with whoever is in front of him that it made us both feel like we weren&#8217;t. And then I reminded Dave &#8212; his presence looks nothing like Martin&#8217;s. Dave&#8217;s presence is peaceful, quiet, a great listener. Martin&#8217;s presence is funny, animated, all the way on. And that&#8217;s the whole point. </p><p><strong><a href="https://www.drsuemccreadie.com/soulfull-medicine-quiz-abridged">Knowing your personality</a></strong> <strong>is what helps you remember what presence naturally looks like for </strong><em><strong>you</strong></em><strong> &#8212; and that makes it so much easier than trying to be someone you&#8217;re not. &#127752;</strong></p><p>Maybe you, like me, have been chasing the wrong version of presence. If meditation is the only image you have of what &#8220;being present&#8221; looks like, no wonder it never sticks.</p>
      <p>
          <a href="https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/presence-over-perfect-the-one-thing">
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[How to Be a More Present Mom (Even When Life Is Pulling You in Every Direction)]]></title><description><![CDATA[What a quiet lunch with my mom teaches me about the one thing everyone you love is hungry for &#8212; including you.]]></description><link>https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/how-to-be-a-more-present-mom-even</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/how-to-be-a-more-present-mom-even</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Sue McCreadie, MD]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 14 May 2026 16:28:12 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Jj73!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd04704ab-fc54-43f5-be92-5000a9aafde5_2400x3600.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>We&#8217;re sitting at lunch. Just the two of us. My mom is struggling to cut her food, and every small movement takes effort and intention.</p><p>I ask if I can help her.</p><p>Her response is tears. A feeling of humiliation &#8212; a deep, wordless no to losing one more piece of her independence.</p><p>My heart hurts. For her. For what she&#8217;s experiencing &#8212; this slow, steady loss of things she&#8217;s always done without thinking.</p><p>I don&#8217;t swoop in and fix it. I sit there and witness it. Her and also my twinge of pain from being rejected. And what I&#8217;m learning is this:</p><p><strong>Being fully present isn&#8217;t always about solving the problem in front of you. Sometimes it&#8217;s about standing beside someone in their experience, without trying to make it disappear.</strong> &#129402;</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Jj73!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd04704ab-fc54-43f5-be92-5000a9aafde5_2400x3600.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Jj73!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd04704ab-fc54-43f5-be92-5000a9aafde5_2400x3600.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Jj73!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd04704ab-fc54-43f5-be92-5000a9aafde5_2400x3600.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Jj73!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd04704ab-fc54-43f5-be92-5000a9aafde5_2400x3600.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Jj73!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd04704ab-fc54-43f5-be92-5000a9aafde5_2400x3600.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Jj73!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd04704ab-fc54-43f5-be92-5000a9aafde5_2400x3600.jpeg" width="1456" height="2184" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/d04704ab-fc54-43f5-be92-5000a9aafde5_2400x3600.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:2184,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:2643133,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/i/197667004?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd04704ab-fc54-43f5-be92-5000a9aafde5_2400x3600.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Jj73!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd04704ab-fc54-43f5-be92-5000a9aafde5_2400x3600.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Jj73!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd04704ab-fc54-43f5-be92-5000a9aafde5_2400x3600.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Jj73!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd04704ab-fc54-43f5-be92-5000a9aafde5_2400x3600.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Jj73!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd04704ab-fc54-43f5-be92-5000a9aafde5_2400x3600.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe"><span>&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;</span></a></p><h3>&#10022; The One Thing Everyone You Love Is Hungry For (Including You)</h3><p>If you&#8217;re in the sandwich season, you know this pull. Your teenager needs you. Your parent needs you. And you &#8212; the one who keeps getting pushed to the bottom of the list &#128534; &#8212; need you too.</p><p>Everyone you love is hungry for the same thing: presence. Just you, actually being there, not distracted, problem-solving the next perfect solution.</p><p><strong>Presence isn&#8217;t a head thing. It&#8217;s a heart thing.</strong> &#128155;</p><p>And here&#8217;s what still surprises me: my mom and my daughters feel my presence without any of us saying a single word. People sense when your heart is genuinely open. When you&#8217;re witnessing instead of fixing. When you&#8217;re simply there.</p><p>The tricky part? You can be in the room and completely gone at the same time. </p><p><strong>With your mind already solving the next moment, you miss the only place joy and peace actually live &#8212; this one.</strong> &#128579;</p><p>And the people you love feel every dropped ball. Your kids feel it in your distraction. Your parent feels it in your hurry. And you feel it in the quiet ache of knowing you were there &#8212; but not really there.</p><p><strong>So here&#8217;s a simple 1, 2, 3 that can help you show up more fully &#8212; for others and for yourself.</strong></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7-8Z!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F398a3fbf-7c1d-4c66-aca3-6b06e9a705a3_2400x3600.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7-8Z!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F398a3fbf-7c1d-4c66-aca3-6b06e9a705a3_2400x3600.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7-8Z!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F398a3fbf-7c1d-4c66-aca3-6b06e9a705a3_2400x3600.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7-8Z!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F398a3fbf-7c1d-4c66-aca3-6b06e9a705a3_2400x3600.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7-8Z!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F398a3fbf-7c1d-4c66-aca3-6b06e9a705a3_2400x3600.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7-8Z!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F398a3fbf-7c1d-4c66-aca3-6b06e9a705a3_2400x3600.jpeg" width="1456" height="2184" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7-8Z!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F398a3fbf-7c1d-4c66-aca3-6b06e9a705a3_2400x3600.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7-8Z!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F398a3fbf-7c1d-4c66-aca3-6b06e9a705a3_2400x3600.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7-8Z!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F398a3fbf-7c1d-4c66-aca3-6b06e9a705a3_2400x3600.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7-8Z!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F398a3fbf-7c1d-4c66-aca3-6b06e9a705a3_2400x3600.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><div><hr></div><p><strong>&#10085; AWAKE:</strong> <br><em><strong>See What&#8217;s Really Running the Show</strong></em></p><p>The signal that you&#8217;ve left the room isn&#8217;t always obvious. For me, I usually catch myself mid-thought, realizing the person in front of me has disappeared from my awareness. Or worse, they tell me. &#128556;</p><p>&#8220;Mom, are you listening?&#8221;</p><p>That&#8217;s what I mean by awake.</p><div><hr></div><p><strong>&#10085; ALIGN:</strong> <br><em><strong>Figure Out What Kind of Presence This Moment Is Asking For</strong></em></p><p>What I learned sitting with my mom at lunch is that presence is a dance &#8212; knowing when to offer support and when to simply witness.</p><p><strong>Sometimes there&#8217;s no problem to solve. There&#8217;s only an experience to be witnessed.</strong> </p><p>Your teenager might just need to be heard. Your parent might need calm company and nothing else. And you? You might need to give your feelings space and grace. You don&#8217;t have to fix what you&#8217;re feeling. Sometimes you just need to be present with the pain. &#10084;&#65039;&#8205;&#129657;</p><div><hr></div><p><strong>&#10085; ACTIVATE:</strong> <br><em><strong>Come Back. Every Time.</strong></em></p><p>When you notice you&#8217;ve checked out, here&#8217;s what I do. I take a breath. I recenter. I put my phone down if it&#8217;s there. I shift my gaze back to them.</p><p>Easy peasy. Two seconds to reset and return to the present moment.</p><p>So think about this &#8212; what&#8217;s one small thing you can do to come back when you&#8217;ve checked out? Then practice it. Again and again, at the lunch table, in the car, even at 10 pm when your daughter finally starts talking. (Menopause early bird here &#8212; 10 pm is basically tomorrow. &#128564; &#128514;)</p><p></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:&quot;button-wrapper&quot;}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary button-wrapper" href="https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe"><span>&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;</span></a></p><p>When you shift into presence, the people you love exhale because you exhale. They lean in because you&#8217;re actually there.</p><p><strong>That version of you &#8212; present, grounded, genuinely there &#8212; she&#8217;s the medicine. For your kids. For your mom. And most importantly, for yourself. &#128155;</strong></p><p>So I&#8217;m curious &#8212; which relationship in your life is asking for more of your presence right now? Is it a child, a parent, or maybe the quietest relationship of all &#8212; the one with yourself?</p><p>xo,<br>Dr. Sue</p><p>P.S. Presence is exactly what we practice together inside <strong><a href="https://www.drsuemccreadie.com/soulfull-membership">Soulfull Membership</a></strong> &#8212; shifting out of stress and into love, one small moment at a time. If you&#8217;re ready to stop managing life and start actually living it.<em> &#8594;</em> <strong><a href="https://www.drsuemccreadie.com/soulfull-membership">Join us here</a></strong> &#129419;</p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Trust Again: How to Rebuild Safety in Yourself and the People You Love]]></title><description><![CDATA[Is there someone you love who used to feel safe &#8212; and now they don't?]]></description><link>https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/trust-again-how-to-rebuild-safety</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/trust-again-how-to-rebuild-safety</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Sue McCreadie, MD]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 08 May 2026 16:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-video.s3.amazonaws.com/video_upload/post/196892352/b5cc70c5-8d55-4e03-818c-95221f8a518b/transcoded-1778257021.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Recently, I lost a sacred friendship. We saw something really important differently &#8212; like, at the core of who we each are differently &#8212; and no matter how many conversations we had, we just couldn&#8217;t get to a resolution. So we drifted.</p><p>And honestly? My first move was to point the finger straight at her. She needed to change. She was the problem. I was fine. &#128579;</p><p>Then I did the inner work. And slowly, quietly, my love bubble expanded again. She came back in. We still disagree on that thing &#8212; probably always will. But what was underneath all of it, just waiting to come back through? Love.</p><p><strong>Maybe you, like me, have been waiting for the other person to change before you let them back in. </strong></p><p>What if the door actually opens from the inside? &#128155;</p>
      <p>
          <a href="https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/trust-again-how-to-rebuild-safety">
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Building Trust The Easy Way]]></title><description><![CDATA[What a drifting friendship taught me about the real secret to trust.]]></description><link>https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/building-trust-the-easy-way</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/building-trust-the-easy-way</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Sue McCreadie, MD]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 08 May 2026 11:55:39 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-KbJ!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb0b88025-69dc-4bd9-871e-88207c661403_2400x3600.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>There was a season in my life when one of my closest friendships quietly began to unravel. &#129525;</p><p>This was someone I&#8217;d known for most of my life. Someone who felt like a soul sister to me. We&#8217;d shared most everything &#8212; our deepest desires, our biggest fears, and the quiet, sacred way we each made sense of the world.</p><p>And then, gradually, we didn&#8217;t.</p><p>There wasn&#8217;t a fight or betrayal. It was something harder to name &#8212; a quiet drift, like two boats that were once tied together, now just... floating in different directions. I felt the distance before I understood it. Conversations that used to go deep stayed on the surface. The ease between us had an unfamiliar effort to it.</p><p>For a long time, I thought the problem was her. &#128556;</p><p>(You know how that goes.)</p><p>What I didn't realize then was that I had a trust issue &#8212; just not with her.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-KbJ!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb0b88025-69dc-4bd9-871e-88207c661403_2400x3600.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-KbJ!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb0b88025-69dc-4bd9-871e-88207c661403_2400x3600.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-KbJ!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb0b88025-69dc-4bd9-871e-88207c661403_2400x3600.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-KbJ!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb0b88025-69dc-4bd9-871e-88207c661403_2400x3600.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-KbJ!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb0b88025-69dc-4bd9-871e-88207c661403_2400x3600.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-KbJ!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb0b88025-69dc-4bd9-871e-88207c661403_2400x3600.jpeg" width="1456" height="2184" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/b0b88025-69dc-4bd9-871e-88207c661403_2400x3600.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:2184,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:4401019,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/i/196802746?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb0b88025-69dc-4bd9-871e-88207c661403_2400x3600.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-KbJ!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb0b88025-69dc-4bd9-871e-88207c661403_2400x3600.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-KbJ!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb0b88025-69dc-4bd9-871e-88207c661403_2400x3600.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-KbJ!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb0b88025-69dc-4bd9-871e-88207c661403_2400x3600.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-KbJ!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb0b88025-69dc-4bd9-871e-88207c661403_2400x3600.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe"><span>&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;</span></a></p><h2>&#10022; The Hidden Truth About Trust Most of Us Miss</h2><p>Here&#8217;s the definition of trust I&#8217;ve come to love:</p><p><strong>Trust is your zone of safety.</strong> </p><p>It&#8217;s the felt sense that you &#8212; and life &#8212; are okay. &#128524;</p><p>Picture an imaginary circle of light surrounding you. Inside that circle, you feel safe, grounded, free. Step toward the edge? Worry creeps in. Step outside it? Fear takes over.</p><p><strong>You are held &#8212; </strong><em><strong>or hindered</strong></em><strong> &#8212; by how wide that circle of safety is.</strong></p><p>Often, when trust feels threatened...</p><p>You obsess over whether you can trust <em>them</em> &#8212; your partner, your friend, your colleague. You replay what <em>they</em> said, what <em>they</em> did, and what it might mean. You build cases. You keep score. (Just keepin&#8217; it real. &#128521;)</p><p>Meanwhile&#8230; you probably forget to ask a very important question: <em>Do I trust myself?</em></p><p>Do I trust my gut when it tells me something has shifted? Do I trust my intuition enough to have the hard conversation? Do I trust myself to be okay, no matter what happens on the other side?</p><p><strong>Self-trust is the foundation beneath everything else &#8212; every decision, every relationship, every risk you dare to take.</strong></p><p>When it&#8217;s shaky, every relationship feels riskier than it actually is. When it&#8217;s solid, you can extend trust outward again &#8212; from a grounded, secure place. &#128330;&#65039;</p><h2>&#10022; The Secret to Rebuilding Trust (That No One Talks About)</h2><p>Back to my friendship.</p><p>Years passed. We each lived our own version of life. We gave each other space and rarely communicated. </p><p><strong>We both did our own </strong><em><strong>inner</strong></em><strong> work. &#9786;&#65039;</strong></p><p>For years, I had been measuring her lens against mine and finding it lacking. Needing her to come around to my way of seeing things before I could fully relax into loving her again.</p><p>The shift happened so gradually I almost missed it.</p><p>One day I just... loved her again. Fully. Without needing her to be different.</p><p><strong>What you resist persists. What you accept rests.</strong></p><p>When I stopped resisting who she is, the love that has always been there &#8212; under the distance and different perspective &#8212; finally had room to breathe.</p><p>We still don&#8217;t see eye to eye on that area of life. We probably never will. And I&#8217;m at peace with it, truly. We spend time together with genuine warmth and unconditional love, and that feels truly incredible. &#128158;</p><p>The secret to rebuilding trust? It starts with getting out of your own way.</p><h2>&#10022; What This Taught Me About How to Trust Yourself &#8212; And Others</h2><p>Losing the safety of that friendship stirred up questions I wasn&#8217;t expecting. Not just about her &#8212; but about me. <em>Was my perspective wrong? Was I somehow on the wrong path? Would I be okay in life without her in it?</em></p><p>That&#8217;s when I realized &#8212; my trust issue wasn&#8217;t really about her at all.</p><p><strong>Self-trust is a practice, and it turns out it&#8217;s the real work underneath every relationship. &#127807;</strong></p><p>When your inner knowing is shaky, everything outside you feels riskier than it is &#8212; and when it&#8217;s solid, you can love people fully without needing them to change.</p><p>When something feels off, your gut already knows. When a relationship needs tending, your intuition is usually the first to notice &#8212; long before your mind catches up.</p><p><strong>Learning to trust those signals &#8212; and yourself &#8212; is how love expands. &#128155;</strong></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!h2h-!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F48563a90-6032-411f-993a-3322c23d8eab_1200x1500.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!h2h-!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F48563a90-6032-411f-993a-3322c23d8eab_1200x1500.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!h2h-!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F48563a90-6032-411f-993a-3322c23d8eab_1200x1500.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!h2h-!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F48563a90-6032-411f-993a-3322c23d8eab_1200x1500.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!h2h-!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F48563a90-6032-411f-993a-3322c23d8eab_1200x1500.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!h2h-!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F48563a90-6032-411f-993a-3322c23d8eab_1200x1500.jpeg" width="1200" height="1500" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/48563a90-6032-411f-993a-3322c23d8eab_1200x1500.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1500,&quot;width&quot;:1200,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:432440,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/i/196802746?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6cb70c4d-5121-414b-ba6e-7a742fdd8cb2_1500x1200.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!h2h-!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F48563a90-6032-411f-993a-3322c23d8eab_1200x1500.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!h2h-!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F48563a90-6032-411f-993a-3322c23d8eab_1200x1500.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!h2h-!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F48563a90-6032-411f-993a-3322c23d8eab_1200x1500.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!h2h-!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F48563a90-6032-411f-993a-3322c23d8eab_1200x1500.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:&quot;button-wrapper&quot;}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary button-wrapper" href="https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe"><span>&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;</span></a></p><h2>&#10022; 3 Powerful Ways to Expand Your Circle of Trust</h2><p>Here are three places to begin:</p><p><strong>&#10085; AWAKEN: <br></strong><em><strong>See What&#8217;s Actually Running the Show</strong></em></p><p>Most trust issues aren&#8217;t really about the other person. They&#8217;re about an old story running quietly in the background &#8212; one that says people leave, or that being vulnerable is dangerous, or that love comes with conditions.</p><p>&#10024; Ask yourself: <em>Where in my life am I withholding trust &#8212; and what am I actually afraid of?</em> &#10024;</p><div><hr></div><p><strong>&#10085; ALIGN: <br></strong><em><strong>Get Your Heart and Your Head on the Same Team</strong></em></p><p>You can know intellectually that someone is trustworthy and still hold them at arm&#8217;s length emotionally. </p><p>&#10024; Ask yourself: <em>Is there someone I&#8217;ve been measuring against my own yardstick &#8212; and what would it feel like to just... let them be?</em> &#10024;</p><div><hr></div><p><strong>&#10085; ACTIVATE: <br></strong><em><strong>Be the Love You&#8217;re Waiting to Feel</strong></em></p><p>Trust your intuition and take one small, courageous step toward openness &#8212; in a friendship, in a partnership, in the way you talk to yourself at 2 am.</p><p>&#10024; Ask yourself: <em>If I truly trusted that I was going to be okay no matter what &#8212; what would I do differently today?</em> &#10024;</p><div><hr></div><p>So I&#8217;m curious&#8230;</p><p><strong>Is there a relationship &#8212; a friendship, a partnership, or the one you have with yourself &#8212; that&#8217;s ready to be trusted again?</strong></p><p>Sometimes it doesn&#8217;t take a dramatic turning point or a perfect conversation. </p><p>Sometimes trust rebuilds the way my friendship did &#8212; so gradually you almost miss it, until one day you realize the love was there the whole time. </p><p>Waiting. Patiently. Way bigger than the distance ever was. &#128155;</p><p>xo, <br>Dr. Sue</p><p>P.S. Still sitting with that one relationship in your mind? Come think it through with me live: <strong><a href="https://open.substack.com/live-stream/194177?utm_source=live-stream-scheduled-upsell">Trust Again: How to Rebuild Safety in Yourself and the People You Love</a></strong>. It&#8217;s free, honest, and you might just leave with the one shift that changes everything. &#128171;</p><p>P.P.S. If this article stirred something in you, that stirring is worth following. It's exactly what we tend to inside <strong><a href="https://www.drsuemccreadie.com/soulfull-membership">Soulfull Membership</a></strong><a href="https://www.drsuemccreadie.com/soulfull-membership"> &#8594; </a>&#129419;</p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Tired of "Eating It"? Better Boundaries, Deeper Relationships]]></title><description><![CDATA[What if saying the thing out loud is exactly what a relationship needs?]]></description><link>https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/tired-of-eating-it-better-boundaries</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/tired-of-eating-it-better-boundaries</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Sue McCreadie, MD]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 01 May 2026 16:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-video.s3.amazonaws.com/video_upload/post/195980575/508e0894-4b63-497b-b429-eec7118d73bb/transcoded-1777658233.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This week felt like a shark on a bike.&#129416; Mouth wide open, going full speed, energy flying everywhere. Which felt like the perfect week to talk about boundaries &#8212; because honestly, when has a boundary conversation ever felt easy?</p><p>My first instinct, in most of those moments? Just eat it. It&#8217;s fine. The next call will be different. &#128579;</p><p>And then I thought: what if saying nothing is exactly what&#8217;s keeping this relationship exactly where it is?</p><p>So I pulled out my courage, said the thing out loud &#8212; kindly, curiously &#8212; and what she said back surprised me in the very best way. &#128105;&#8205;&#10084;&#65039;&#8205;&#128105;</p>
      <p>
          <a href="https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/tired-of-eating-it-better-boundaries">
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[A Simplified Guide to Better Boundaries]]></title><description><![CDATA[The practice that deepens relationships, boosts self-confidence, and helps women over 40 feel like themselves again.]]></description><link>https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/a-simplified-guide-to-better-boundaries</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/a-simplified-guide-to-better-boundaries</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Sue McCreadie, MD]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 30 Apr 2026 10:44:48 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/e790ad53-0d1d-4285-9bcc-dddc418bcab5_1200x630.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Recently, a colleague crossed a line we&#8217;d previously agreed on. And I felt that familiar pull:</p><p><em>Just let it go. Keep the peace. It&#8217;s not worth it.</em></p><p>My old habit &#8212; what I privately called &#8220;eating it&#8221; &#8212; was swallowing the icky feeling, downplaying the hurt, and moving on without saying a word. &#129314;</p><p>This time, I didn&#8217;t.</p><p>I took space and grace then shared:</p><p><em>&#8220;Hey, the way our last meeting went isn&#8217;t sitting well with me. We&#8217;d agreed on a different format. What are your thoughts?&#8221;</em></p><p>Simple. Kind. Direct.</p><p>What happened next totally surprised me. &#128563;</p><p>My colleague told me that speaking up had <em>increased</em> their trust in me &#8212; that knowing I&#8217;d name something when it wasn&#8217;t working made them feel <em>more</em> secure in our relationship, not less.</p><p>I sat with that for a long time.</p><p><strong>We trust people who are honest with us</strong> &#8212; even when honesty feels uncomfortable in the moment.</p><p>That boundary didn&#8217;t push someone away. It brought them closer. And I had to unlearn almost everything I&#8217;d believed about what boundaries do.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!unbt!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F31d7daeb-9222-4efa-b043-cc7cad6d2ac3_1000x1500.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!unbt!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F31d7daeb-9222-4efa-b043-cc7cad6d2ac3_1000x1500.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!unbt!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F31d7daeb-9222-4efa-b043-cc7cad6d2ac3_1000x1500.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!unbt!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F31d7daeb-9222-4efa-b043-cc7cad6d2ac3_1000x1500.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!unbt!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F31d7daeb-9222-4efa-b043-cc7cad6d2ac3_1000x1500.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!unbt!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F31d7daeb-9222-4efa-b043-cc7cad6d2ac3_1000x1500.jpeg" width="1000" height="1500" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!unbt!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F31d7daeb-9222-4efa-b043-cc7cad6d2ac3_1000x1500.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!unbt!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F31d7daeb-9222-4efa-b043-cc7cad6d2ac3_1000x1500.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!unbt!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F31d7daeb-9222-4efa-b043-cc7cad6d2ac3_1000x1500.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!unbt!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F31d7daeb-9222-4efa-b043-cc7cad6d2ac3_1000x1500.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe"><span>&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;</span></a></p><h2>&#10022; The Hidden Gift of Better Boundaries</h2><p>Most women over 40 were raised to believe that saying no, asking for what you need, or speaking up when something feels off will push people away.</p><p>The opposite is true.</p><p><strong>Boundaries deepen relationships.</strong> That&#8217;s the gift &#8212; and likely the last thing you&#8217;d expect.</p><p>A boundary is simply where you end and someone else begins &#8212; an invisible line that protects your energy so you actually have some left to give.</p><p><strong>Boundaries teach people how to treat you.</strong> </p><p>When you stop hoping people will figure out what you need and start telling them &#8212; kindly, clearly &#8212; you stop quietly resenting them for getting it wrong. And the people who love you? They feel the difference.</p><p><strong>A boundary isn&#8217;t a wall. It&#8217;s an invitation</strong> &#8212; to meet you at a place of mutual respect.</p><p>You&#8217;ll know it&#8217;s time when you&#8217;re&#8230;</p><p>&#128558;&#8205;&#128168; Running on empty no matter how much you rest <br>&#128580; Saying &#8220;yes&#8221; when every cell in your body means &#8220;no&#8221; <br>&#128548; Having the same fight with the same person, on repeat <br>&#128566; Going quiet at the exact moment you most need to speak up <br>&#129760; Slowly disappearing into everyone else&#8217;s needs</p><p>Recognize any of these? Good news &#8212; once you see a pattern, you can shift it. &#127793;</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.drsuemccreadie.com/soulfull-medicine-quiz-abridged&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;&#10022; CURIOUS WHAT'S HOLDING YOU BACK? &#10022;&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.drsuemccreadie.com/soulfull-medicine-quiz-abridged"><span>&#10022; CURIOUS WHAT'S HOLDING YOU BACK? &#10022;</span></a></p><h2>&#10022; A Simplified Guide to Better Boundaries</h2><p>Boundaries don&#8217;t have to be complicated. They just have to be practiced.</p><div><hr></div><h4>&#128155; See What&#8217;s Running the Show</h4><p>Before you can change a pattern, you have to be able to see it.</p><p>Start noticing the moments you override yourself &#8212; the <em>&#8220;fine, whatever,&#8221;</em> the slow internal sigh before saying yes to something you don&#8217;t want, the split-second where you feel <em>this isn&#8217;t right,</em> and then talk yourself out of it.</p><p><em><strong>Once you can see the pattern, you can shift it.</strong></em></p><div><hr></div><h4>&#128155; Know Your Non-Negotiables</h4><p>What do you need to feel safe, respected, and like yourself? Clear communication when someone&#8217;s running late? Uninterrupted time to focus? Conversations that go both ways?</p><p><em><strong>Get specific. The vaguer the boundary, the harder it is to hold.</strong></em></p><div><hr></div><h4>&#128155; Say It Simply and Kindly</h4><p>So much of what holds <em>you</em> back is the fear that speaking up will sound harsh or hurtful.</p><p>Instead of: <em>&#8220;You&#8217;re so loud in the mornings, I can&#8217;t even think!&#8221;</em> &#129324;</p><p>Try: <em>&#8220;I know you care about my needs &#8212; I need quieter mornings to start the day grounded. Could we try having you use headphones for the news?&#8221;</em> &#129392;</p><p>Both address the same situation. Only one invites collaboration.</p><p><em><strong>Most people need to know what to do differently, not just what to stop.</strong></em></p><div><hr></div><h4>&#128155; Stay Consistent (Especially When They Push Back)</h4><p>Boundaries are like muscles. The more you use them, the stronger they get.</p><p>Sometimes, when someone isn&#8217;t used to you holding a line, they push to see if it&#8217;s real. That&#8217;s not a sign you did something wrong. That&#8217;s a sign you&#8217;re doing something new.</p><p><em><strong>Hold the line with love.</strong></em></p><div><hr></div><h4>&#128155; Celebrate Every Step</h4><p>If you&#8217;ve spent years going silent when you wanted to speak up, saying one honest, kind sentence is an act of real courage.</p><p>Every time you hold a boundary, you&#8217;re building the version of yourself who trusts herself &#8212; the one who knows she deserves to be treated well, and acts like it.</p><p><em><strong>Every boundary you hold brings you closer to the woman you&#8217;ve been missing.</strong></em></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kdpG!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff34c8eba-e8fc-4592-aa6c-989466300e38_1071x1500.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kdpG!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff34c8eba-e8fc-4592-aa6c-989466300e38_1071x1500.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kdpG!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff34c8eba-e8fc-4592-aa6c-989466300e38_1071x1500.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kdpG!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff34c8eba-e8fc-4592-aa6c-989466300e38_1071x1500.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kdpG!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff34c8eba-e8fc-4592-aa6c-989466300e38_1071x1500.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kdpG!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff34c8eba-e8fc-4592-aa6c-989466300e38_1071x1500.jpeg" width="1071" height="1500" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kdpG!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff34c8eba-e8fc-4592-aa6c-989466300e38_1071x1500.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kdpG!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff34c8eba-e8fc-4592-aa6c-989466300e38_1071x1500.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kdpG!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff34c8eba-e8fc-4592-aa6c-989466300e38_1071x1500.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kdpG!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff34c8eba-e8fc-4592-aa6c-989466300e38_1071x1500.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:&quot;button-wrapper&quot;}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary button-wrapper" href="https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/subscribe"><span>&#10022; GET SOULFULL MEDICINE WEEKLY &#10022;</span></a></p><h2>&#10022; Boundaries Are an Act of Love</h2><p>Here&#8217;s what I know to be true &#8212; in my medical practice, in my own life, and in the stories of every woman I&#8217;ve coached:</p><p><strong>Boundaries are not about shutting people out. They&#8217;re about inviting people in &#8212; to a place of real connection, real respect, and relationships that feel good for everyone.</strong></p><p>When you honor your own needs, you respond instead of react. You become more present &#8212; actually there, not just in the room. And that presence ripples. Your people feel it. Your home feels it.</p><p>And one day you&#8217;ll look back at the version of you who &#8220;ate it&#8221; every time, and feel nothing but tenderness for her. She was doing the best she could with what she knew. &#129401;</p><p>And now you know:</p><p>Saying no doesn&#8217;t have to be mean, cold, or hurt anyone&#8217;s feelings. </p><p>It can be as simple as:<em> &#8220;Hey, that didn&#8217;t feel good to me. How about this instead?&#8221;</em></p><p>When you honor your needs, you give more fully and joyfully to the people and things that matter most. You don't just feel better. You become the medicine.</p><p>xo, <br>Dr. Sue</p><p><strong>P.S.</strong> Psst &#8212; boundaries aren't hard for everyone equally. Your personality type has <em>a lot</em> to do with it. Giver Mamas, I'm looking at you. &#128513; Take the free quiz and find out which midlife personality type you are &#8212; and where boundaries might be quietly running (and draining) the show. &#128073; <strong><a href="https://www.drsuemccreadie.com/soulfull-medicine-quiz-abridged">Take the quiz here.</a></strong></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Feeling Behind? 3 Simple Shifts to Reclaim Your Inner Peace]]></title><description><![CDATA[What if you're not actually behind &#8212; you just believed a story that said you were?]]></description><link>https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/feeling-behind-3-simple-shifts-to</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://drsuemccreadie.substack.com/p/feeling-behind-3-simple-shifts-to</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Sue McCreadie, MD]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 24 Apr 2026 16:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-video.s3.amazonaws.com/video_upload/post/195294393/77395aa8-1fc6-4b98-8327-83a1d1961f9b/transcoded-1777053463.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Recently, I was on a coaching call with one of my clients. She got on camera, and the camera was facing the wrong way &#8212; just pointing into the void. I said, &#8220;Girl, flip your camera around!&#8221; And we both just lost it. Laughing so hard we were crying. &#129315;</p><p><strong>And right in the middle of all that chaos and giggling, I thought: </strong><em><strong>this</strong></em><strong> is joy. Right here, right now. Not in the future when everything&#8217;s figured out. Right here.</strong></p><p>That&#8217;s the thing about &#8220;I should be further along by now.&#8221; It pulls you out of the moment where all the good stuff actually lives. And it is sneaky. I know because I&#8217;ve said it too &#8212; especially during one of the hardest seasons of my life, which I share openly in this week&#8217;s live.</p><p><strong>Maybe you, like me, have been measuring yourself against a timeline that life already had different plans for.</strong> &#128519;</p><p>What if exactly where you are right now is part of the path?</p>
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