How to Stand in the Ashes

(A Scroll for the Rebuilder)

Standing in the ashes isn’t about feeling strong.

It’s about not running.

Not turning your back on what’s been lost, what’s been burned, or what had to die for truth to rise.

You stand because you’re still here.

And sometimes, that’s the first act of leadership.

Here’s how to stand in the ashes:

1. Don’t Pretend It Didn’t Burn

Own the fire.

Call it what it was, grief, loss, mistake, heartbreak, pride, ego, betrayal, death of an old self.

Name it.

Because pretending nothing burned only delays the rebuild.

2. Let the Smoke Clear

You can’t see your next steps with soot in your lungs.

Breathe.

Mourn.

Let the whirlwind settle.

This is sacred ground now.

Let silence teach you before strategy tries to.

3. Pick Up Only What’s True

Not everything that survived the fire is worth carrying.

Some things survived because they were buried deep.

Others because they were meant to remain.

Look around you, not everything in the ash is yours to take back.

Pick up truth.

Pick up your integrity.

Pick up what aligns.

Leave what broke you.

4. Don’t Rush the Rise

Ashes are deceiving.

They look like the end, 

But sometimes they’re the only soil honest enough to plant something new.

Let your new posture rise slowly.

Don’t rush to prove your healing.

Let it speak without needing to shout.

5. Speak to the Fire Like a Friend

The fire didn’t come to destroy you.

It came to show you what couldn’t go with you.

So stand.

Let the embers remind you that pain isn’t the enemy.

It’s the invitation.

To rebuild.

To choose.

To become.

Final Reflection:

You are not what you lost.

You are who you became in the loss.

And when the kingdom looks for your leadership,

Let them see not a man who avoided the fire,

But one who stood in it.

Learned from it.

And built a throne from the ashes.

You don’t need everything back.

Just your crown.

👑