Believe in yourself – that’s what people say, but it’s not that easy is it? How can you believe in yourself if you are not connected to your own inner wisdom, love and joy? If you haven’t given yourself the permission to feel your heart because it’s safer not to and block out any emotions out of fear of being hurt or failure?

What if you got affected by loss and other roadblocks, lived a joyful life but still running on a ‘fight or flight’ survival mode and soldiered on because you are an eternal optimist until an illness knocks you down and it’s the final straw. You are exhausted of fighting for what you believe in.

What do you do then? Give up?

Never. Life is a gift.

I learned it was my conditioned way I lived my life and that my coping strategies needed to change. 

Three years ago autoimmune disease woke me up. Even though it was traumatic, it was a gift.

Why do we have to go through darkness to see the light?

I needed that leverage to make me stop and question the beliefs I was holding, the masks I was wearing that kept me safe but unfulfilled. I redevelop the courage to look inside of myself and really feel what’s there without the need for external validation.

Not an easy task, right?

It’s possible though with courage, compassion, kindness and love from yourself and others. I’ve asked myself empowering questions such as what makes me feel happy? What brings me joy, love and peace of mind?

It’s different for everyone, but I found the easiest way to start reconnecting with my heart was to connect with the hobbies I used to love and reevaluate my values from there, step by step.

Loving crafts, I took creative workshop classes which really helped me being present, feeling the process. And seeing the results was very rewarding. Something magical happens when you create something with your hands; a hand to heart connection is built.

Where focus goes, energy flows and positive energy flowed into my heart.

Then I stepped up and challenged myself a lot by getting out of my comfort zone knowing it can only build my progress and growth in a good way. I felt fear of course, but no way I was going back and I wanted to feel freedom to explore, freedom to feel, freedom to be my true self. From travelling to Cuba, India and solo travel to Thailand, I connected to everything that I was inspired by and these life experiences all reminded me of who I am deep down and taught me to trust myself more. 

While allowing myself to take time out during my self-healing journey, I’ve also met amazing inspiring supporting people along the way, such as the women at DrivenWoman network. 

Surrounding yourself with a supportive group besides family and friends is crucial.

Having nurtured myself back to health without scientific medicine, I truly believe in the power of our own intuition and guidance of our own heart.

I believe when we connect and feel our heart/soul, we do know who we are and what we are capable of. It takes courage and vulnerability, yes, but it is so worth it. If we protect ourselves too much, we also cut off the chance of feeling love, joy and aliveness and feeling the strength and inner beauty of our feminine essence.

Even with all the psychological knowledge, you have to feel and embody your own powerful qualities for self-belief in order to take inspired action and create the life you want for yourself and the people you love.

So right now I’m dancing my heart out and hope you will too!

With all the knowledge that I’ve acquired over my 10 year design career, I then felt called to build my own creative business with heart, to create empowering inspiring jewellery pieces for mindful sophisticated women and bring love and joy into their lives.

The journey ahead is exciting and learning never stops!

~ Victoria

Victoria von Stein is a DrivenWoman member in London, UK and founder of Victoria von Stein handcrafted fine jewellery

Watch Victoria’s story on our YouTube channel here.