What Does It Mean to Honor a Life?

Honor is a funny word, isn’t it? I’ve used it so many times, and yet, when I stop to think about it, I realize I don’t truly know what it means. I mean, I know it loosely. We all do.

“It’s a real honor to be here.”

I’ve said those words more times than I can count. But what was I really trying to say? Was it meant to make the other person feel more than? Was it meant to fill a space? Was I saying it because I believed it, or because I thought it was expected?

Hell, I don’t know. But this week, I learned something about honor. Something real. Something that will sit with me for a long time.

I was taught about honor through the blog I wrote this week. It’s long, it’s winding, and it might not be the cleanest thing I’ve ever written. But it’s alive. It serves. And that blog taught me something I didn’t expect. It taught me to honor a life lived and a life yet to be lived.

A life full of suffering, like most couldn’t imagine. A life that wasn’t mine to keep living. A life that doesn’t need to be lived by anyone, ever again.

That journey behind the blog reminded me of something powerful. Honor isn’t about standing still in the stories we’ve carried. It’s about recognizing the connection between those stories and the lives we’re stepping into.

It’s about untethering. It’s about tethering.

Tethering ourselves to what’s real, to what’s alive, and to what we’re ready to build.

I gave up a lot along this path. I gave up on a lot along this path. I built an entire life based on not giving up, when the reality was, giving up was the exact thing I needed to do. Giving up being tethered to shit that doesn’t matter.

It was easy to do that to the stuff I could see. To the stuff I knew.

It was tough to do that to the stuff I couldn’t yet see. To the very future that whispered to me and called me forward.

I untethered from everything I thought this life was supposed to be before I stepped into it. It wasn’t clean, it wasn’t easy, and I had to make a deal, a deal, I still don’t fully understand.

But here’s what I do know - If I honor this life as deeply as it deserves to be honored, then I’ll have and do everything I’ve ever needed.

And I think that’s what honor means to me. It’s the commitment to hold what you’ve been given, even the pain, with reverence. To see it, to thank it, and to let it go when the time comes.

This week, as I worked through the winding path of trust, surrender, and connection, I found myself tethered to something deeper. That’s the story the blog tells. And maybe, as you read it, you’ll find your own journey reflected there.

If you’re ready to step into what’s next, maybe start by asking yourself this:
What would it look like to honor your life - past, present, and future?

You can read the blog here: Tethered and Free: The Journey to Trust.