Back to Work: Go On & Glow Up

Be'Anka Ashaolu
Nirvana Soul
Published in
3 min readJul 10, 2019

After nearly six weeks off, I’m back to work and feeling better than ever. It’s amazing what a break can do! But I couldn’t let this time go by without sharing the greatest lesson I learned along the way.

When I lost my job, I immediately battled with self-doubt. My termination was shocking, but not a surprise. I’d already come to accept that my best wasn’t good enough for that particular role, space, or time, but I couldn’t quite understand why.

What I discovered once the smoke (and my mind) cleared was that we simply cannot give what we don’t have. If we’re distracted, tired, or unhappy, we experience our lives completely differently than when we’re focused, energized, or joyful. All the while, the show just goes on as we become more dynamic or peripheral in our own stories.

Our responsibility then, above all else, is to the active pursuit of peace. What this means for me is that if I can’t show up fully and joyfully in every aspect of my life, then something has to change. What a simple, yet profound revelation that is!

If I can’t show up fully and joyfully in every aspect of my life, then something has to change.

Jeronica and I have decided to open a coffee shop in one of the most challenging environments because we truly believe we can and should. But if we don’t do everything possible to protect our peace, we’ll be creating this space on fumes, which would be a huge disservice not only to our community, but to ourselves.

So as I’m heading back to work, Jeronica is taking time off. Over the next month, she’ll be devoting her energy to self-care and to accelerating Nirvana Soul’s progress. Throughout, we’ll share updates on the spaces we’re scouting, the obstacles we’re overcoming, and the triumphs we’re having. I have no doubt this break will be just as good for her as mine was for me.

Thanks for sticking with us! Nothing but great things coming your way soon. For now, I’ll leave you with one of my favorite quotes:

“Take your good fortune and lift your life to its highest calling. Understand that the right to choose your own path is a sacred privilege. Use it. Dwell in possibility.” - Oprah Winfrey

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Be'Anka Ashaolu
Nirvana Soul

Digital and demand gen marketer, retail and culture enthusiast, current Director of Marketing at a tech startup, and Nirvana Soul owner… on the side.