Life Step 2: Trust & Guidance

This Way....

“When you can’t see the whole map, trust the compass.”

Why Trust & Guidance Matters

After acceptance comes a quiet but powerful shift: trusting that you don’t have to walk your path alone or have every answer before you begin.

Think of life like standing at a trailhead in early morning fog. You can’t see the whole route—only a few steps ahead. Trust is choosing to keep walking anyway, guided by your values, your intentions, and the support around you.

Trust doesn’t mean blind faith.

Trust is grounded.

Trust is intentional.

Trust says, “I can take the next right step, even if I can’t see the one after.”

When we open ourselves to guidance—whether from inner wisdom, loved ones, community, spirituality, or purpose—we give ourselves permission to be human instead of superhuman.

How Life Step 2 Supports Mental Health

• Less overthinking, because you’re not trying to plan for every possible outcome.

• More emotional safety, knowing you can lean on people or principles that support you.

• Stronger decision-making, guided by values, not fear.

• Reduced isolation, because trust opens the door to connection.

Guidance, in any form, is a stabilizer. It helps you steady yourself in moments when clarity is in short supply.

Reflection Corner

1. When life feels uncertain, who or what helps guide me back to steadiness?

2. What values or principles do I trust to anchor me when decisions feel heavy?

3. Where am I trying to navigate alone, even though support is available?

4. What would trusting the “next right step” look like today?

Small Practice

Take a moment today to identify your compass—the people, values, or practices you rely on in uncertain times.

• “What grounds me?”

• “Who supports me?”

• “What guides me?”

Choose one small moment today to lean into that support—ask a question, seek a perspective, pause and reconnect with a value, or let someone help.

Notice how it feels to not walk the path alone.

Looking Ahead

Trust helps us loosen our grip on control and move forward with intention. Next, we explore the step that naturally follows trust—Life Step: 3 letting go.

Last tidbit :)

Sorry for the gap in Life Step 1 and 2. Acceptance is so difficult that I wanted to give you time to really explore where you are.

Your Therapist,

- Megan Cerney, LCSW

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