The Shift that Saved Me
...by Felix Lilly, Daily Word, January 2026.
There was a time in my life when I believed that worry was a form of responsibility. If I didn't constantly stress about my health, my finances, or what might go wrong next, then I wasn't being realistic. I carried anxiety like armor, but it never protected me. It just wore me down. On the surface, I looked like I had things together. I showed up to work, I smiled, I did what I was supposed to do. But inside I was falling apart.
My anxiety didn't look like panic attacks. It looked like waking up exhausted, even after eight hours of sleep. It looked like snapping at loved ones, then feeling ashamed and pulling away even more. It looked like skipping meals without noticing, overworking just to distract myself, and saying I'm fine when I was anything but. I was distant with friends, short with family. I drank more than I should have—not to have fun but to feel numb. Everything felt heavy, and I didn't know how to put any of it down.
I didn't have the language for it back then, but I was emotionally depleted—burned out in every way a person can be. What scared me most wasn't the anxiety itself. It was the quiet realization that I couldn't remember the last time I felt peaceful. What's what prompted my search for something deeper.
I stumbled across a Daily Word message while sitting in a waiting room. The line was simple: “With every breath, I choose peace.” Something about it broke through the noise. For the first time, I understood that maybe peace wasn't something I had to earn or chase. Maybe it was something I could choose—right now, right here, in the middle of the mess.
That message led me to Unity teachings. I began reading more, slowly and skeptically at first. I found the Unity Prayer Ministry and submitted a prayer request—just a few vague words because I didn't know what I needed. But a few days later, I received a kind, handwritten note. It reminded me that divine peace was in my life even if I couldn't feel it yet.
From there, I started making small, consistent choices that added up to something life changing. I practiced affirmative prayer, even when it felt awkward. I began setting aside quiet space in the mornings to be still—no phone, no noise. I read the Daily Word each day. I journaled. I paid attention to my inner voice and tried, little by little, to make it gentler. I stopped trying to fix everything and asked for guidance instead.
The shift didn't happen overnight. But one day, I noticed I wasn't snapping at my loved ones as often. I started sleeping better. I smiled and actually meant it. I felt moments of calm without needing anything to be perfect. I began to trust life again—not because it was predictable, but because I no longer felt alone in it.
That's what Unity gave me: not a quick fix, but a slow, steady return to myself. The shift saved me from continuing in quiet depletion. It taught me to soften. To surrender. To remember that healing doesn't mean that nothing hurts; it means you believe something deeper is holding you through it.
Today, I still feel occasional anxiety, but I don't live from that place any longer. I live from trust. I live in peace. And every time I open Daily Word, I'm reminded there's a light inside me that never went out—it just needed space to shine again.
02/22/26