Prosperity Begins with Self-Trust
Last night, I was cooking with my daughter. I asked her to grab the pot to take over for a bit. She paused and asked, “Is the handle hot?” I told her no and then what happened next was remarkable.
She reached out and touched the stove for herself to see.
I quietly noticed, my heart brimming with pride and appreciation. She trusted her own experience. She didn’t just rely on my word, she honored her own knowing. That small act reminded me of something I wish we were all taught:
You always know. See for yourself.
That truth echoed through the rest of my day as I worked with three women in session each navigating what it means to reclaim self-trust and come home to themselves.
One client shared a breakthrough moment where she realized she doesn’t have to tell her mother everything. That it’s not only okay but important, for her to reflect and decide for herself without seeking her mother’s validation. She talked about how, as a child, she was conditioned to wait for approval before acting—and how that pattern, even now in her late 30s, creates anxiety, erodes self-trust, and makes her question her choices. She’s learning that honoring her voice doesn’t mean dishonoring her mother—it means finally choosing herself.
Another client talked about struggling to find her voice. She had spent years giving away her power, emotionally caretaking for her mother. That survival strategy made her susceptible to relationships where she silenced herself to keep the peace. She’s now asking: Are my needs okay? Can I speak up? Do I get to take up space? And she’s learning that she can.
Then another client, also in her mid-30s, reflected on how the recent Marvin Sapp scandal triggered religious trauma rooted in guilt, obligation, and the pressure to be seen as “good” in God’s eyes—only if she gave, gave, and gave some more. She shared how that messaging stripped her of self-worth and taught her that her goodness was conditional. Now, she’s on a journey to reclaim her own definition of worthiness, to reconnect with what’s already whole and well within her.
Each of these women was learning to do what my daughter did:
To pause.
To check in.
To see for themselves.
To trust what they feel.
To know what they know.
These moments are not small. They are everything.
They are the foundation of inner prosperity, that deep-rooted sense of knowing, confidence, and wholeness that no one can take from you. It’s not about being perfect or having it all figured out. It’s about trusting yourself again. Returning to yourself. Aligning with your values and needs, not just surviving for others.
Later that night, I called my daughter into the kitchen. I pulled out the same pot from the night before.
“Come here,” I said. “I want to talk to you about something.”
She walked over, eyes wide, voice rising just a little: “What did I do, Mommy?”
I smiled and said, “Last night, you asked if the handle was hot, and I told you it wasn’t. Then you touched it anyway to see for yourself. And I want you to know how proud I am of you for that. You didn’t just take my word for it. You trusted your own body, your own knowing. That’s something I want you to always do.
Even if someone is older than you.
Even if it’s your mommy.
You get to see for yourself. You get to know for yourself.”
Then I gave her a hug.
Prosperity Practice:
Where in your life are you being invited to “touch the handle”?
Where can you pause… and trust what you feel?
Prosperity begins within.
Not in how much we give away, or how well we perform, but in how deeply we honor the voice within us—the one that’s been there all along.
Ready to Reimagine Prosperity?
If you're ready to transform your relationship with yourself and create the conditions that support your healing, I offer guidance through:
1:1 Prosperity Guidance - Personalized support as you remember your wholeness and create the structures that honor your truth.
Prosperity Clarity Session - A single session to explore what healing means for you and the care you deserve as you transform your relationship with yourself.
"Who Are You?" 6-Week Group Program - Beginning January 2026. Journey with others who are also returning home to themselves, integrating all parts, and remembering they were never broken.
About the Author:
Joy Long is a mother, writer, healing artist, ecotherapist and prosperity guide devoted to remembering wholeness in a world shaped by fragmentation. She is the founder of Whole with Joy, a healing movement rooted in embodiment, Earth wisdom, and joy.
Joy’s journey has moved through community mental health, private practice, ecotherapy, movement, ritual, and creative expression. It has also been shaped by years of travel and learning across the African diaspora, the Americas, and other land-based cultures, where the wisdom of place, the centrality of rhythm and movement, and ancestral ways of knowing deepened her understanding of what it means to live in right relationship with self, community, and Earth. Motherhood, ancestral memory, and a lifelong relationship with nature continue to shape both her work and her way of being.
Rooted in earth-based spirituality, somatic healing, attachment healing, and Black feminist and eco-womanist traditions, Joy creates spaces for people to reconnect with themselves, each other, and the living world. Through individual prosperity work, organizational wellness consulting, and community healing offerings, her work invites a remembering: that prosperity is not something we earn, but something we embody when we return home to who we are together, with dignity, pleasure, and power.