The Life Lessons Hidden Inside Her Hardest Seasons | Tenaya Yarbrough Maxwell
During a severe period of chronic migraines, hospitalizations, weight loss, and bed rest, she experienced what she describes as a vision of herself carrying boxes representing responsibilities she had picked up along the way. In that vision, the load became lighter as boxes were removed, reinforcing a lesson she would later teach others: carrying everything does not make someone stronger if much of the weight was never theirs to carry in the first place. Tenaya Yarbrough Maxwell shares how she moved from survival mode, abuse, and self-abandonment into healing, purpose, and freedom.
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Her hardest seasons reshaped the way she understood faith. Tenaya continued teaching Bible study, praying, and speaking even while privately struggling, but she never portrayed faith as the absence of pain. After losing her son, her father, and other important people in her life while also navigating turmoil in her relationship, she described moments when she did not even feel capable of praying. She also spoke openly about experiencing suicidal thoughts and recognizing immediately that she needed help, reaching out to trusted people who could pray and stand beside her when she felt emotionally depleted. Her experience taught her that strength does not always mean carrying pain alone; sometimes strength means knowing when to call someone trustworthy and say, “I need help.”
Another lesson came through learning how to be alone without believing she was abandoned. Tenaya spent a year “dating herself,” going to restaurants and movies alone and intentionally discovering who she was outside of relationships and responsibilities. That solitude helped her rebuild confidence and become more intentional about whose opinions she allowed to influence her identity. Eventually, the lessons she learned about boundaries, patterns, relationships, and self-understanding developed into her RUBBB Method: Recognize, Understand, Break, Build, Become. The framework begins by recognizing repeating patterns, understanding what keeps them alive, breaking their hold, rebuilding from a healthier foundation, and ultimately becoming more aligned with one’s identity and purpose.
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About Become the Victor Podcast:
https://victortheinspiration.com/blogs/become-the-victor-podcast/about-become-the-victor-podcast
More Become the Victor Podcast Interviews:
https://victortheinspiration.com/blogs/become-the-victor-podcast