Hi love,

A few weeks ago, I shared the story of how I ended up with poison ivy all over my face. Here’s the part I didn’t tell you: why I did it.

It was the 90s. We were playing manhunt in the neighborhood when my friends and I came across a patch of poison ivy. I knew it was dangerous and warned everyone to stay away. They didn’t believe me.

So, Reader, to prove myself, I did the unthinkable: I rubbed it on my face.

The irony is, I wasn’t thinking about poison ivy at all. I was thinking:

• I need them to believe me.
• I need to be right.
• I need to be seen as smart.
• I need to do this to be worthy of their friendship.

And instead of gaining what I wanted, I ended up with a swollen, blistered face and a (quite literal) steroid shot in the butt.
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The truth is, we often do versions of this as adults. Maybe not with poison ivy, but with things like:

• Overworking to prove our value.
• Saying yes when we mean no.
• Sacrificing our well-being to earn acceptance.

And it rarely gives us what we’re looking for.

Here’s the reminder: you don’t need to do more to be worthy of love, safety, or acceptance. You were born deserving of those things.

This is the deeper healing work we do at The Gut Health Agency — helping women regulate their nervous systems and heal the old patterns that keep them stuck in "proving mode."

It’s why we’ve been able to help over 1,000 women heal chronic gut, skin, and autoimmune issues with our “bum up and brain down” approach.

👉 If this hits home, I created a free masterclass for you: GHA's 3 Pillars to Good Gut Health.

It will show you how to step out of survival mode and into true safety - without burning out your body in the process.

Talk soon,

Chelsea

P.S. Let my mistake save you some pain: you don’t need to rub poison ivy on your face (literally or metaphorically) to prove your worth. There’s an easier way — and that’s what the masterclass is all about.