Aiman Shahid
Stories (109)
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Dancing with Discomfort: How I Learned to Grow Outside My Comfort Zone
Introduction: The Allure of the Known For most of my life, I clung to comfort like a lifeline. I liked knowing what was coming next, staying where I felt safe, and avoiding anything that stirred up anxiety. My comfort zone felt like a warm blanket on a cold day — cozy, predictable, and easy. The problem? It was also a cage.
By Aiman Shahid6 months ago in Families
The Art of Starting Small: Why Tiny Steps Matter More Than Giant Leaps
For most of my life, I thought real change had to be big. It had to look like dramatic before-and-after photos, quitting jobs overnight, or completely reinventing myself in the span of a month. If it wasn’t radical, it didn’t feel real. And because I couldn’t always summon the energy for those sweeping transformations, I stayed stuck—forever waiting for the “perfect moment” to become who I wanted to be.
By Aiman Shahid6 months ago in Confessions
Soft Strength: The Power of Gentle Resilience in a Harsh World
We live in a world that often confuses toughness with strength. Loud voices, bold moves, and hard edges are celebrated as symbols of power, while softness—kindness, empathy, vulnerability—is frequently mistaken for weakness. But there is a different kind of strength. One that doesn’t shout to be seen. One that doesn’t crush others to stand tall. One that survives storms not by resisting them, but by bending with grace. This is gentle resilience—a soft strength that quietly endures, heals, and transforms.
By Aiman Shahid6 months ago in Confessions
Healing Out Loud: Why Telling My Story Set Me Free
There was a time when silence felt safer than truth. When I carried pain like a secret folded in the pages of a journal no one would read. I believed that if I didn’t speak it, it wouldn’t define me. But the longer I kept my story hidden, the more it festered in the dark, shaping my self-worth, decisions, and relationships in ways I didn’t understand. It wasn’t until I began to heal out loud—to say the quiet parts out loud—that I truly began to feel free.
By Aiman Shahid6 months ago in Confessions
Chasing Peace, Not Perfection: My Journey to Letting Go
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been chasing perfection. Perfect grades. Perfect appearance. Perfect timing. Perfect everything. I lived by to-do lists, spreadsheets, color-coded calendars, and a voice in my head that said, “You’re not enough until it’s perfect.” I thought perfection was peace — that once I got it just right, I’d finally be allowed to rest. What I didn’t realize was that I was sprinting on a treadmill that never stopped, and I was the one controlling the speed.
By Aiman Shahid6 months ago in Confessions
Becoming My Own Rescue: Why No One's Coming to Save Me
There’s a moment—sharp, humbling, and often terrifying—when you realize that the cavalry isn’t coming. No one is on the way with a solution to your heartbreak, your burnout, your financial mess, or your unraveling sense of self. It’s in that moment that the world becomes clearer and heavier. And it’s also when something remarkable can happen: you learn how to rescue yourself.
By Aiman Shahid6 months ago in Lifehack
Rebuilding After Rock Bottom: How I Started Over When I Had Nothing Left
There’s something terrifying about hitting rock bottom — the moment when everything you believed was stable suddenly crumbles beneath your feet. It's a place of darkness, stillness, and silence where time seems to pause, and all you're left with is yourself. I know this place intimately. And though I never would have chosen to visit it, I can now say: it’s where I truly met myself. This is the story of how I started over when I had nothing left — no money, no direction, and no hope.
By Aiman Shahid6 months ago in Motivation
Loving Without Losing Myself: The Art of Staying Whole in Relationships
There’s a quiet kind of heartbreak no one talks about—the kind that happens when you love someone so deeply, you forget how to love yourself. Not because they asked you to, and not because the love was bad or toxic, but because somewhere in the process of giving, caring, accommodating, and adjusting, you stopped seeing yourself as someone worth protecting too.
By Aiman Shahid6 months ago in Families
Romanticizing the Everyday: How Small Joys Saved My Sanity
There was a time when every day felt like a blur. Wake up. Check phone. Scroll mindlessly. Eat something. Work. Reply to messages I didn’t feel like answering. Repeat. Life became a monotonous loop, with no spark, no depth—just survival. I wasn’t depressed in the textbook sense, but I wasn’t living either. I was existing.
By Aiman Shahid6 months ago in Families
The Power of Being Unavailable: How Boundaries Became My Superpower
For the longest time, I thought being available made me valuable. If someone called, I answered—even if I was in the middle of something. If a friend needed a favor, I said yes—even when I was exhausted. I responded to texts at midnight, checked emails before I even got out of bed, and said “of course” far too often when I should’ve said “not right now.”
By Aiman Shahid7 months ago in Families
Unlearning People-Pleasing: Becoming Who I Am, Not Who You Want
For most of my life, I wore the invisible badge of a people-pleaser. I smiled when I wanted to scream, agreed when I disagreed, and sacrificed my own comfort to earn someone else’s approval. I became a master of morphing into what others wanted me to be. But beneath the polished surface, I was exhausted. I didn’t know who I truly was—I only knew who I was supposed to be for everyone else.
By Aiman Shahid7 months ago in Families
