19/09/2026
If you’re always the person everyone calls when they need something, this might be for you.
5 DAYS TO MY 40TH BIRTHDAY ✨
2004 → 2026.
Looking through 22 years of photos made me realise something:
For a long time, I confused being needed with being loved.
Growing up, I learned to be helpful, responsible and to do what was expected of me.
So I became very good at reading the room.
Helping. Fixing. Working hard. Being the reliable one.
But while I became very good at knowing what everyone else needed, I wasn’t nearly as good at asking:
What does Bernadene need?
And even when I achieved something, I rarely stopped to celebrate it. I was already chasing the next thing.
Today, I know myself differently.
I can help people without needing to be needed.
I can be ambitious without constantly proving myself.
And most importantly, I can celebrate who I was, who I am and who I’m becoming.
So here’s something I want you to do today:
Go through your photos and find one version of yourself you’re proud of.
Mine is 2004.
That young woman dressed all in black, standing in her room.
I’m proud of her.
Not because she had everything figured out. She didn’t.
I’m proud of her because she carried me this far.
Everything she experienced, dreamed about, learned and kept going through helped create the woman I am today.
And she’s not finished yet.
She’s going to help me achieve some pretty amazing things. 🤎
What year would you choose?
Always Shine,
BB ✨