# How to recognize what belongs with you

An episode of [The Gentle Hours with Lisa Marie](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1864053570), 24 Aug 2026, 11 min.

Audio: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2567811/episodes/19690549-how-to-recognize-what-belongs-with-you.mp3

Send us Fan Mail Support the show

## Transcript

[0:00] SPEAKER_00: Well, hey my baby.
[0:02] SPEAKER_00: And welcome to another Gentle Hours.
[0:05] SPEAKER_00: Before we get into anything this morning, I want you to give yourself a few minutes where nothing is required of you other than being you.
[0:15] SPEAKER_00: You may already have some things on your mind for this week, things you know you need to take care of, conversations you need to have, places you need to be, but all of that can wait for just a little while because right now I want you to settle into wherever you are and allow yourself to be still enough to hear your own thoughts.
[0:36] SPEAKER_00: I want you to take a slow breath in through your nose and don't rush it.
[0:42] SPEAKER_00: Just let your chest feel naturally, hold it there for a few seconds, and then slowly release it through your mouth.
[0:53] SPEAKER_00: And as you release it, allow your shoulders to come down a little bit too sometimes.
[1:00] SPEAKER_00: We don't realize how much we carry and in our bodies until somebody reminds us that we don't have to hold ourselves so tightly all the time.
[1:11] SPEAKER_00: Take another breath in, hold it, and slowly let it go.
[1:20] SPEAKER_00: This morning I want us to spend a little time with discernment.
[1:24] SPEAKER_00: And I don't necessarily want you to think about it as trying to figure out who is good for you and who is bad for you or what you need to remove from your life, because that can make us tense before we begin.
[1:36] SPEAKER_00: I want you to think about discernment this morning as simply learning how to recognize what belongs with you in this season of your life and what may not.
[1:46] SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes there is absolutely nothing wrong with a person, a place, an opportunity, or even something you used to enjoy, and somewhere along the way, you realize it just doesn't fit you anymore.
[2:02] SPEAKER_00: You don't have to figure everything out.
[2:04] SPEAKER_00: What it means right now, and you don't have to make a decision about it this morning.
[2:08] SPEAKER_00: I just want you to give yourself permission to acknowledge what you have already been noticing without immediately trying to explain it away.
[2:19] SPEAKER_00: Maybe there is somewhere you keep going where you have noticed that you don't quite feel like yourself anymore, or maybe there are some conversations you participate in that leave you feeling different afterward.
[2:32] SPEAKER_00: And you haven't really taken the time to ask yourself why.
[2:36] SPEAKER_00: Maybe something that once excited you doesn't excite you in the same way anymore.
[2:41] SPEAKER_00: And because it used to mean so much to you, you feel almost guilty admitting that you may have outgrown it.
[2:49] SPEAKER_00: And I think sometimes we hold on to things because we believe something has to go wrong before we are allowed to release it.
[2:56] SPEAKER_00: And that can keep us connected to people and places long after we already know something has changed.
[3:02] SPEAKER_00: You know, we'll we'll wait for an argument, we wait for somebody to disappoint us, we wait for something to happen that gives us a reason everybody else will understand.
[3:12] SPEAKER_00: And sometimes the only thing that has happened is that we have changed.
[3:17] SPEAKER_00: And changing is enough to make you reconsider what still fits.
[3:23] SPEAKER_00: You are allowed to become more aware of what feels good to your spirit.
[3:27] SPEAKER_00: You are allowed to recognize that something you once had the capacity for requires more from you than you are willing to give today.
[3:34] SPEAKER_00: And you are allowed to look at something that may be wonderful for somebody else and understand that it is simply not for you.
[3:42] SPEAKER_00: There doesn't have to be anger attached to that understanding.
[3:45] SPEAKER_00: It doesn't have to have some kind of grand announcement.
[3:49] SPEAKER_00: You don't have to gather evidence so you can explain yourself later.
[3:54] SPEAKER_00: Sometimes discernment is just a recognition that you have stayed somewhere long enough to know how you feel when you are there.
[4:01] SPEAKER_00: And I want you to think about that gently this week, my baby.
[4:05] SPEAKER_00: Because I don't want this conversation to make you feel suspicious of the people around you.
[4:10] SPEAKER_00: And I don't want you walking into a room trying to figure out what is wrong or looking at everybody differently because you are trying to discern something.
[4:18] SPEAKER_00: I actually want you to do the opposite.
[4:20] SPEAKER_00: I want you to relax enough to notice.
[4:23] SPEAKER_00: I want you to notice yourself.
[4:25] SPEAKER_00: I want you to notice how you feel before you enter certain spaces and how you feel when you leave them.
[4:31] SPEAKER_00: I also want you to notice how naturally you are able to be yourself and when you find yourself adjusting or performing, explaining or making yourself comfortable with something that really hasn't felt comfortable in a long time.
[4:45] SPEAKER_00: And when you notice these things, I don't want you to judge them.
[4:49] SPEAKER_00: You can just become aware of them.
[4:51] SPEAKER_00: And there's something very peaceful about no longer forcing yourself to make everything fit.
[5:00] SPEAKER_00: I think we spend so much of our lives trying to make people fit, trying to make those friendships fit, trying to make those opportunities fit.
[5:10] SPEAKER_00: And then we also try to make ourselves fit into environments because we were invited into them, and eventually, you know, you reach a place where you understand that everything does not require that much work.
[5:23] SPEAKER_00: Some things will belong with you naturally, and some things will continually require you to negotiate with yourself in order to keep them.
[5:31] SPEAKER_00: And maybe discernment is learning to recognize the difference.
[5:38] SPEAKER_00: And if you have been praying for God to give you discernment, I want you to leave room for the possibility that the answer may not come through some major revelation, it may come through the things you have already been noticing.
[5:51] SPEAKER_00: It may be the same thought that keeps returning when everything around you gets quiet enough for you to hear it.
[5:58] SPEAKER_00: It may be uneasiness you have been trying to reason yourself out of, or it just may be the realization that you have been trying to maintain something you no longer have peace maintaining.
[6:10] SPEAKER_00: You do not have to rush that realization.
[6:13] SPEAKER_00: I need you to give yourself this week to sit with it.
[6:25] SPEAKER_00: There is no prize for making the decision today.
[6:28] SPEAKER_00: And sometimes we give ourselves room to sit with something without reacting to it.
[6:35] SPEAKER_00: We begin to understand it differently.
[6:37] SPEAKER_00: What initially may have felt confusing starts becoming a little clearer because we are no longer trying to force an answer.
[6:45] SPEAKER_00: And that's something I want you to carry with you this week.
[6:49] SPEAKER_00: You do not have to force clarity.
[6:51] SPEAKER_00: You can allow it to come.
[6:52] SPEAKER_00: You can pray about something and then live your life while the answer becomes clear.
[6:58] SPEAKER_00: You can also observe a person without trying to decide immediately what role they should have in your life.
[7:04] SPEAKER_00: You can receive an opportunity and give yourself enough time to determine whether it actually belongs with the life you are building.
[7:11] SPEAKER_00: Maybe you can revisit something you once loved and admit that it served you beautifully for one season, but may not be meant to follow you into another one.
[7:23] SPEAKER_00: Sometimes a place gives us everything we're supposed to receive from it, and eventually we recognize that it is time to experience something different.
[7:33] SPEAKER_00: There are times we are so focused on what we are leaving that we don't consider that making room is part of the receiving.
[7:40] SPEAKER_00: So this week, instead of trying to figure everything out, I want you to practice noticing.
[7:48] SPEAKER_00: When something feels good, I want you to notice it.
[7:50] SPEAKER_00: When you feel completely like yourself around someone, I want you to notice it.
[7:54] SPEAKER_00: When you walk into a space and your body relaxes instead of preparing itself, allow yourself to recognize what that feels like because discernment is not only about recognizing what isn't for you, it is also learning what is.
[8:10] SPEAKER_00: And the more you learn what peace feels like in your life, the less convincing you will need when something consistently interrupts it.
[8:18] SPEAKER_00: Now, I want you to take a slow breath with me.
[8:25] SPEAKER_00: Breathe in through your nose and allow yourself to receive the breath fully before you release it.
[8:34] SPEAKER_00: Hold it for a minute.
[8:38] SPEAKER_00: I want you to remind yourself that you do not have to make any major decisions right now.
[8:43] SPEAKER_00: You don't have to have every answer before you begin this week, and you don't have to understand everything you have been feeling.
[8:49] SPEAKER_00: I just need you to simply pay attention.
[8:52] SPEAKER_00: You can allow God to show you what you need to see without trying to hurry God along.
[8:57] SPEAKER_00: And you can trust yourself enough to recognize when something continues to show you that it may no longer belong to you.
[9:04] SPEAKER_00: Some people will be wonderful people and still not be your people.
[9:08] SPEAKER_00: Some places will be wonderful places and still not be where you need to spend your time.
[9:13] SPEAKER_00: Some opportunities will be incredible opportunities and still not belong to you.
[9:18] SPEAKER_00: And some things you once prayed for may eventually become things you are ready to release because you are no longer the person who originally asked for them.
[9:28] SPEAKER_00: There's nothing wrong with recognizing that.
[9:33] SPEAKER_00: So as you move through this week, my baby, move gently enough to notice yourself.
[9:38] SPEAKER_00: Give yourself permission to observe without judging, to pray without rushing to answer, and to recognize what feels aligned with you and who you are becoming without needing everything else to be wrong.
[9:53] SPEAKER_00: Again, you don't have to spend this week figuring out what needs to leave, just notice what feels like it belongs.
[10:00] SPEAKER_00: And maybe by the end of this week, you will understand a little more clearly what doesn't.
[10:08] SPEAKER_00: Take one last breath with me.
[10:13] SPEAKER_00: Hold it gently and slowly release.
[10:20] SPEAKER_00: May you have the discernment to recognize what is for you, the wisdom to recognize what is not, and enough peace within yourself that you no longer have to force either one.
[10:36] SPEAKER_00: Have a gentle week, my baby.

Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them.