Two Minutes to Victory

A Story That Stayed With Me

This week, I sat with a peer who trusted me enough to share pieces of her story, and I don’t take moments like that lightly. What she shared moved me deeply, not just because of what she had been through, but because of who she is choosing to become in spite of it.

From a very young age, her life was shaped by instability and pain. Her mother was in and out of incarceration, so her grandmother raised her. But even in that, there were wounds. She endured abuse at the hands of a family member, over and over again, and those experiences left her carrying questions about her worth, her purpose, and even why she is here.

And yet, as she sat across from me, I did not see someone defeated. I saw someone searching. I saw someone who has made a decision to change. I saw courage.

The Lie About Emotions

During our conversation, she shared something that so many people feel but don’t always say out loud. She told me that there are times when she feels the need to cry, but then feels guilty for it, as if crying somehow makes her weak.

That moment opened the door for a conversation that I believe more of us need to have.

I told her that crying is not weakness; it is release. It is what happens when your heart has been carrying more than it was ever meant to hold. The real danger is not in feeling emotions, but in suppressing them—burying them so deeply that they begin to affect you from the inside out.

Two Minutes to Victory

That is when I shared something that has helped me on my journey, something I call Two Minutes to Victory.

I explained to her that I do not deny my emotions when they show up. I don’t pretend anger, fear, doubt, anxiety, or grief aren’t there. I name them. I acknowledge them. I allow them to be real.

But I also don’t give them access to my life.

Instead, I give them two minutes.

Two minutes to feel it fully. Two minutes to cry if I need to. Two minutes to sit in the truth of what I’m experiencing without pretending I’m okay. There is no masking in those two minutes, no shame, and no performance.

But there is a boundary.

Visit, Don’t Live There

I’ve said this before and I will say it again:

Don’t live in a place you were only meant to visit.

Visiting your emotions is necessary. It is healthy. Suppressing them comes with a cost—mentally, emotionally, and even physically. When emotions are buried, they do not disappear. They surface in other ways, often when we least expect it.

But living in those emotions can keep you stuck. It can shape your decisions, your mindset, and your direction in ways that do not serve you.

Take Back Control

So I encouraged her to do something simple, but powerful. I told her to set a timer.

Two minutes.

In those two minutes, feel everything. Cry if you need to. Let it be real.

And when the timer goes off, make a decision.

Remind yourself:

This emotion is real, but it is not in control. I am.

Because whether we admit it or not, most of us are trying to control something in life. One of the most powerful things you can ever learn to control is not your circumstances, but your response.

Not by suppressing what you feel, but by setting boundaries around it.

What Victory Really Looks Like

That conversation stayed with me because what I witnessed was not just pain, but transformation in motion. I saw someone who has every reason to stay stuck, yet is choosing to move forward.

That is what victory looks like.

Victory is not the absence of emotion. It is not pretending everything is okay when it isn’t. Victory is having the courage to face what you feel, give it the space it deserves, and then continue forward without allowing it to define you.

So the next time the weight hits, when the tears come or the anxiety rises, don’t run from it.

But don’t live in it either.

Give it two minutes.

And then take your life back.

Your Two Minutes to Victory

This is your reminder today…

You are not weak for feeling.

You are not broken because you struggle.

You are not defined by what you’ve been through.

You are in control.

Give it two minutes… and then choose forward.

Because this is what it looks like to rise.

Real Talk. Real Life. Real Victory. 🔥