<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Aligned Confidence]]></title><description><![CDATA[Empowering Conversations, Transforming Lives]]></description><link>https://www.alignedconfidence.com/blog</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Wed, 23 Sep 2026 05:39:07 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.alignedconfidence.com/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[MY Boundary - I Don't Want to Be Anyone's ONLY]]></title><description><![CDATA[Only is such a small word. Only friend. Only source. Only support. Only connection. Only answer. Only person who understands. Only suggests scarcity. As if there isn't enough. Enough people. Enough love. Enough support. Enough knowledge. Enough possibility. I don't want to be anyone's ONLY. My only ONLY's are what I choose NOW. I don't want anyone (but my husband) to be mine.  That might sound strange coming from someone who teaches connection, curiosity, exploration and the movement of...]]></description><link>https://www.alignedconfidence.com/post/my-boundary-i-don-t-want-to-be-anyone-s-only</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6aabded32861dd76ca7079d7</guid><pubDate>Thu, 17 Sep 2026 13:20:51 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Yael Johnson</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[TRYING People]]></title><description><![CDATA[The two things WE cannot change are the past and other people. We cannot change someone as a person, but we CAN influence who they are in OUR presence. We joke about how our pets "train" us. They do. Just the same as we're training them. When we do THIS, we want them their REACTION to be THAT. When they want US to feed them, they give us a sign. They communicate their needs with their actions. We can't read their mind, so we watch for clues into what they might want. With people, we take...]]></description><link>https://www.alignedconfidence.com/post/trying-people</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6aa82503cf39f9d324f0e233</guid><pubDate>Wed, 16 Sep 2026 15:32:36 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Yael Johnson</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[I am Not YOUR Vision]]></title><description><![CDATA[Words Imprint The way he spoke to her left me wondering why she would tolerate such DISRESPECT. He laid his hands on her and threatened her children and she did NOTHING.  Sometimes they would fight. I don’t remember what about. She did raise her voice back, but only in defense and to disagree. She was intolerant, dismissive, disrespectful, spiteful and mean. She spent MY life with her nose buried in a book, hiding behind words that don’t even matter TO HER. I spent MY life LIVING, FEELING...]]></description><link>https://www.alignedconfidence.com/post/i-am-not-your-vision</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6aaaad1e435fe3ebd8e2961a</guid><pubDate>Wed, 16 Sep 2026 14:52:24 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6cd528_8eb8d6951ce744d4af960aa497873251~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_667,h_426,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Yael Johnson</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Resistance]]></title><description><![CDATA[I wanted to FEEL loved. My favorite movie line is in The Breakup, “I want you to WANT to do the dishes.” I thought I wanted someone to understand me, so I overexplained myself and why I felt how I felt. But I didn’t. What I wanted was for someone to WANT to understand me. I found that person who wants that more than anything. What RESONATES with us does so because it serves US and points us toward becoming who we want to become. The version of us living the life we want, among the people we...]]></description><link>https://www.alignedconfidence.com/post/resistance</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6aa99f3c9453ffbd4126562e</guid><pubDate>Tue, 15 Sep 2026 22:22:28 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6cd528_e0490347460d4cd2b6280ce78ee2481a~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Yael Johnson</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Words Matter - Letter to My Mom]]></title><description><![CDATA[Grandpa (her father) was an artist and calligraphist RECOGNITION seeking behavior is not the same as ATTENTION seeking behavior. I CHOOSE to LIVE loudly, but the world only heard and saw what it was ready to until now. Until they MISSED me. Until I felt gone. Until the world thought I'd checked out. What matters is what you MAKE matter. I matter. It's nice to know. WORDS matter. While you spent your life LOOKING at them blankly, escaping into them to appear CONNECTED, while you acted as if...]]></description><link>https://www.alignedconfidence.com/post/words-matter-my-letter-to-mom</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6aa713cdabcfc8d624a10bd5</guid><pubDate>Mon, 14 Sep 2026 01:35:44 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/11062b_820707834a9146d7acc39b51747baec1~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Yael Johnson</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Anxiety is YOUR Future Calling You Into Action]]></title><description><![CDATA[No matter what you're doing, you feel like something else is calling you. Time feels fast and fleeting. Life feels urgent and hurried. Nothing can happen fast or well enough to YOUR satisfaction. Admitting something is "good enough" feels final, maybe even defeating. Satisfaction closes a chapter you may not be ready to close. This moment is what you'll look back on to judge. What will matter when you look back on this moment? Whether you call it masculine energy, resistance, or energy...]]></description><link>https://www.alignedconfidence.com/post/anxiety-is-your-future-calling-you-into-action</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6aa48948f448a9cd17b45c2a</guid><pubDate>Sun, 13 Sep 2026 21:12:50 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6cd528_065138440b1c4a0f87800b11e3c7bec2~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_768,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Yael Johnson</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Done Waiting for Someone to Speak FOR Me]]></title><description><![CDATA[Yael waited for someone to speak up for her. Not to defend her. Not to rescue her. But to recognize her. To say, I see what you’re doing. I hear what you’re trying to say. I see what you bring to this. I see you. She longed for someone to notice her without needing to ask. Because asking for recognition feels like defeat. If I have to tell you I matter or why, does that make it less true? If I explain my value, am I convincing you or myself? And if I keep proving who I am, the question...]]></description><link>https://www.alignedconfidence.com/post/done-waiting-for-someone-to-speak-for-me-1</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6aa46c46571318e8c9e53420</guid><pubDate>Fri, 11 Sep 2026 21:35:45 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6cd528_fe0f8621204940e7b540dcbc33dde645~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_377,h_506,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Yael Johnson</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Difference Between Public and Private Conversations]]></title><description><![CDATA[Some conversations ask for a room. Others can survive the street. I have been thinking about the difference between what I hear in private and how I see public conversations. The difference is about who we think can hear us. In public, conversations tend to be more guarded because, while you may trust who you're talking to, you would not want to offend someone who may hear how you feel about something that has nothing to do with them, but you never know.  It is about how safe we feel with...]]></description><link>https://www.alignedconfidence.com/post/private-or-public-conversations-trust-vulnerability-and-the-paywall-of-relationships</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a9f0dc2f461d5f63d5a62ad</guid><pubDate>Tue, 08 Sep 2026 11:03:05 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6cd528_723cedb986ed40db967fc276fc99b1a9~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_768,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Yael Johnson</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Are You Asking or Telling?]]></title><description><![CDATA[A friend of mine used to say, "Don't tell me what to do" in response to, "Have a nice day." We'd laugh and lead into what today looks like. To be TOLD what to do triggers a rebellion in me. My dad was controlling, to say the least. He made the rules we had to live by. He set the expectation of what was good enough and what wasn't. For us. Not for him. He'd bark orders and do whatever he was doing, giving zero consideration to what I was doing, or wanted to do. He wanted a boy and wasn't sure...]]></description><link>https://www.alignedconfidence.com/post/are-you-asking-or-telling</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a9ef2591ffa33b22d9ccd88</guid><pubDate>Mon, 07 Sep 2026 18:35:09 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6cd528_9f217879248041348fb2e6eff1410517~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_887,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Yael Johnson</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Conversations We Carry and the Clarity They Create]]></title><description><![CDATA[A conversation can create or destroy a connection, depending on its flow, but the flow can end long before anyone stops talking. A look, a pause, a certain word, a feeling of being dismissed, and suddenly the real conversation shifts inside. The conversation may not stop, but you can feel the energy shift. The conversation just got awkward. Whether the conversation continues or shuts down right there depends on who we are and how we handle energy. On the outside, we may exchange banter or...]]></description><link>https://www.alignedconfidence.com/post/the-conversations-we-carry-and-the-clarity-they-create</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a96d3852323fdc85928e599</guid><pubDate>Fri, 04 Sep 2026 21:31:08 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6cd528_562558f2b080418498fc87a896046424~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_768,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Yael Johnson</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Transform Challenges into Opportunities for Growth]]></title><description><![CDATA[When emotions are a science, a remedy is searchable when you know how the science works. 

What once was a "problem" is now an "opportunity"]]></description><link>https://www.alignedconfidence.com/post/transform-challenges-into-opportunities-for-growth</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a8889700df120a48ef8aeb2</guid><pubDate>Fri, 21 Aug 2026 17:22:56 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6cd528_8db99d8fdb124883a1d777e9475604b4~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_768,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Yael Johnson</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Change is YOUR Energy Moving Thru Time]]></title><description><![CDATA[How Well Do You Adjust During Turbulence? The more things change, the more we realize what and how much is still the same. When you change everything about your life and, still, you can't place your finger on what's not right, the common denominator is YOU.  You're carrying energy that is not yours to carry anymore. Maybe it once was, but do you feel responsible for someone else's welfare or well-being? What makes them YOUR responsibility? In the case of kids, just because you brought them...]]></description><link>https://www.alignedconfidence.com/post/embrace-change-strategies-for-personal-growth</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a888966d586cd2fd661c3b7</guid><pubDate>Fri, 21 Aug 2026 17:22:47 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6cd528_03ddefa661bb4f2489f3dd8b09f3b362~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_768,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Yael Johnson</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Navigating Self-Awareness: Tools for Inner Reflection]]></title><description><![CDATA[Self-awareness is a powerful tool that can transform your life. It allows you to understand your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, leading to better decision-making and improved relationships. In a world filled with distractions and external pressures, taking the time for inner reflection is essential. This blog post will explore various tools and techniques to enhance your self-awareness, helping you navigate your inner landscape more effectively. Understanding Self-Awareness Self-awareness...]]></description><link>https://www.alignedconfidence.com/post/navigating-self-awareness-tools-for-inner-reflection</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a888964ec9ee797848dfb1a</guid><pubDate>Fri, 21 Aug 2026 17:22:44 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6cd528_705c12601c8f452dbbb35564f218a703~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_576,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Yael Johnson</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>