"You Cannot Heal In The Same Environment Where You Got Sick."

This week on WORDS MATTER, Deanna Ley, The Catalytic Coach, dives into a quote that doesn’t just land — it lingers:

“You cannot heal in the same environment where you got sick.”

Author unknown — but the truth? Unforgettable.

With raw honesty, Deanna shares a pivotal chapter from 2021 — a season marked by service, strain, and ultimately… languishing. Naming it became the first step in reclaiming her Whole-Self Health: mind, body, and soul.

What Listeners Will Learn:
• Why “environment” includes more than physical space — it includes thoughts, beliefs, and relationships
• How languishing sneaks in and why naming it gives you power
• The moment Deanna realized her healing required a new internal and external space
• Why hustle won’t help when your soil doesn’t match your seed
• How to recognize when you’re functioning but not feeling
• A fierce invitation to draw your line in the sand and choose different — now

Memorable Quotes:
• “You cannot heal in the same environment where you got sick.” - Unknown
 • “Languishing — that gray space between depression and flourishing where you’re not drowning, but you’re not living.”
• “Growth requires congruence. If the soil doesn’t match the seed, nothing blooms — no matter how hard you hustle.”
• “You don’t have to wait for everything to fall apart before you make a move.”
• “If waiting is your strategy, you’re not just wasting time — you’re wasting YOU.”
• “What you do need is to want your life more than you fear the change it will take to claim it.”

This isn’t about running away — it’s about creating an environment that supports healing, not hiding. You don’t need approval or a perfect plan. You just need to decide that you matter enough to begin again.

Your WORDS MATTER, because YOU MATTER.

❤️❤️❤️

Transcript

Well, hey there, friends. Welcome back to another episode of WORDS MATTER.

Now there are some quotes that don't just land. They name something. They catch you mid-thought, mid-life, and suddenly you realize — well, that's it. That's exactly what I've been feeling. That's what I've been walking through. That's what I couldn't put into words, but now — here it is — doing that for me. Well, today's quote? That's one of those.

See, it doesn't comfort — it calls out. And it doesn't just land — it lingers. And sometimes clarity is exactly what we've been avoiding, because once you see it, you can't unsee it, and once you know it, you can't unknow it. 

Here it is: 

"You cannot heal in the same environment where you got sick." 

Now the original author is unknown, but this truth has echoed through the years, and all for very good reason.

Because at first, that quote might sound like it's talking about physical space, right? Your office, your home, your neighborhood, the part of the world you live in. And, yeah, sometimes it does. But that's only part of the story. Because “environment” doesn't just mean what's around you — it also means what's within you.

It's your thoughts. Your nervous system. Your choices. All those beliefs you've absorbed. The way you speak to yourself — and about yourself. The emotional pressure you've normalized. The habits you keep falling back into even when they hurt you. The people you surround yourself with. Or the masks you wear to get yourself through the day. Well, this quote hits home, because I've lived it.

Environments — inside and out — that made healing feel impossible. The one that stands out the most to me started in March of 2021.

See, my husband and I had just finished leading eight to nine ZOOM meetings every single week for fifty-one straight weeks during the pandemic shutdown. All for the networking organization we launched back in 2018. Together, we poured everything we had into keeping people connected. We pulled energy out of thin air. We helped businesses pivot, regain momentum, and tried to hold space for people who were scared and exhausted, watching their livelihoods vanish overnight. We worked hard to shoulder the burdens — to walk arm-in-arm with a community that we deeply loved.

And then? After nearly a year, we were finally able to connect in-person again. But it wasn't what we had imagined. It didn't feel like coming home. It felt unfamiliar. Heavy. See, something had shifted, and my high hopes paid the price. What I had pictured — the reunion, the rebuilding, the “WE MADE IT!” moment — it just didn't unfold that way. The world had changed.

People had changed. And while most were incredibly supportive, encouraging, deeply appreciative, and eager to return to something that felt like normal… others… weren’t. What I thought would feel like celebration felt like friction. And instead of joy and momentum, we were met with resistance. Tension. And a weight in the room that I couldn't ignore.

A heaviness I couldn't shake. And no amount of positivity or perseverance could lift it. So I started to feel untethered. Disoriented in a space I used to feel at home in. And I couldn't explain it at the time. I just knew something was off. Something in me was detaching — disconnecting from others and from myself. But I didn't have the words for it yet. I knew I wasn't depressed.

I had been there before. I knew what that looked like. What it felt like. And this? It wasn't that. But I also knew that I wasn't okay. I wasn't myself. Four months. Four long months. That's how long I lived in that in-between — unraveling.

Showing up while slowly shutting down. Holding space for others while feeling emptier by the day. Searching for answers through this fog of exhaustion that wouldn't lift. And I kept thinking it would pass — that I could push through. But it lingered. Until one day I had had enough. I made a vulnerable post on social media, just wondering if anyone else out there felt like I did. And the response was overwhelming.

I wasn't alone. In fact, a friend sent me an article by Adam Grant titled — There's a Name for the Blah You're Feeling. It's Called Languishing. Finally, I had a word for everything I had been carrying. Languishing. That gray space between depression and flourishing where you're not drowning, but you're not living.

You're functioning, but not feeling. You're going through the motions, but something vital is missing. You're tired. Unmotivated. Disconnected. And no one else seems to notice. And just having a name for it lifted the weight of shame off my chest, and it sparked something in me I now call reclaiming my Whole-Self Health — mind, body, and soul.

Because healing isn't about pushing harder or snapping out of it. It's about telling the truth, friends. The environment around you — or inside you — might be what's keeping you stuck. Maybe your routine is built for burnout. Maybe your self-talk cuts you down. Maybe your emotional world has no room for your needs.

Maybe the people around you only celebrate the you that plays small. And maybe — just maybe — the shift you need isn't another plan or productivity tool. Maybe it's an environment shift. Because growth requires congruence. If the soil doesn't match the seed, nothing blooms — no matter how hard you hustle. And let's be clear…

This isn't about running away, friends. It's about refusing to stay rooted in conditions that stunt your growth. I need you to hear me on this. You don't have to keep living in a space that's draining the life out of you. Whether it's the mental environment of your thoughts, the emotional environment of over-functioning and pretending you're fine, the physical environment of chaos and clutter, or the relational environment of being surrounded by people who expect you to shrink — you don't have to stay. You don't have to wait for everything to fall apart before you make a move. You don't need a green light. You don't need the perfect timing. You don't need to explain yourself to anyone who's never really seen you anyway.

But what you do need? The courage to tell yourself the truth. “This isn't working. And I deserve more than this.” Because you do. You deserve an environment that supports your healing, not your hiding. You deserve to feel connected to your life, not just responsible for holding it all together. You deserve to wake up in a space — mentally, physically, emotionally — where you can breathe.

And if you're stuck? If you're languishing and pretending you're not? I hope this is your moment. The moment you stop settling for survival and start reaching for more. Because remember what the quote said:

“You cannot heal in the same environment where you got sick.”

Healing isn't passive, friends. It's not something you wait on. It's a choice. And sometimes the most powerful choice you can make is to walk away from what's trying to break you. You can change your environment. You can reset your space. You can rewire your patterns, and you can reimagine your future. Because you're not broken. And you're not too far gone.

And you're not meant to live like this.

So if this is your line in the sand moment — draw it. And then move — not timidly, not later — but now. One bold, deliberate step at a time into the life that is waiting for you. You don't need approval, but maybe you need a wake-up call. So let this be it. How much longer are you going to watch your life from the sidelines?

How many more mornings will you whisper to yourself, “Maybe tomorrow I’ll feel different” — knowing that nothing changes unless you do?

Let me be blunt. If waiting is your strategy, you're not just wasting time — you're wasting YOU. This isn't a dress rehearsal. This is your one beautiful, amazing life. And every second you spend stuck, silenced, or shrinking is time you will never get back. And I don't want you to look back and realize you've abandoned yourself for comfort, for loyalty, or for fear.

So please — I beg you — stop waiting for better circumstances, for the perfect mood, or the foolproof plan. You don't need any of that. 

What you do need is to want your life more than you fear the change it will take to claim it.

And those four months? The four months that I spent languishing? I’ll never get them back. I know there are no make-ups, there are no do-overs, and I can’t rewrite that chapter. But you better bet your bippy that I’ve used every bit of that season to make sure no one else has to stay stuck for that long if I can help it.

So hear me: 

The longer you stay in what's not healing you, the longer it will take you to build what can hold you.

So choose different. CHOOSE YOU. Choose now. 

And go DO different.

Because this one amazing life you’ve been gifted — right here, right now — it’s available to you. But it’s not going to chase you down. It’s time to stop waiting on it — and start walking toward it.

Friends, the words we see and read, the words we hear, and the words we say to ourselves and about ourselves — about what we’re doing and how we’re doing it — they all matter.

Your WORDS MATTER, because YOU MATTER.

Have a great day.