The Cost of Bullshit

I am not write this as an outsider looking in. I wrote it because I have lived it.

I have spent tens of thousands of dollars chasing peace, validation, and some sense of permission to exist as I am. I kept trying to become someone better, someone clearer, someone else. You know...the other guy. The one who has it all together.

For years, I thought healing for lack of a better word meant upgrading myself. I bought into the stories. I followed the frameworks. I told myself it was growth.

But what I really needed was awareness. Not more steps, not more systems, just enough stillness to notice what was true. And what was not.

There was no big breakthrough. Just a quiet shift toward something more honest. What I now call unlearning.

I wrote this for anyone who is still in that loop. Not to fix it, not to fix you, but to remind you: you do not have to be your programming nor do you need someone else's programming. Because it was never yours to begin with.

The Cost of Bullshit

There is a trillion dollar (yes...trillion) wellness industry convincing people to come home to themselves after they pay for the journey.

It speaks in soft tones. Uses words like alignment, vibration, and authenticity. It tells you that you are powerful, intuitive, and divine. Then it tells you what to buy to feel that way.

You do not just get a product. You get a story. One where something is missing, and they know how to help you find it. But only if you follow the method. Only if you commit to the structure. Only if you believe, just enough to keep spending.

Complementary medicine, self help coaching, high ticket retreats, some of it is real. Thoughtful. Backed by emerging science or grounded presence. But the industry around it does not care whether it is true. It cares whether it sells. Afterall honest work does not always make a good headline or a good profit.

This is a global machine. The wellness economy now tops $6.3 trillion¹. In the U.S. alone, it is worth $2.2 trillion², larger than most national economies. Complementary medicine brings in over $180 billion³, and the supplement industry is pushing past $150 billion⁴, much of it sold on vague promises and little regulation. The self help industry pulls in more than $38 billion⁵, mostly from people looking for the next answer to the same question.

"If it needs a framework, a facilitator, and a fee, maybe it is not unlearning. Maybe it is just another version of control."

Because real unlearning does not give you new rules. It helps you notice the ones you never agreed to in the first place. It does not ask you to become someone better. It invites you to get quiet enough to hear what is already true.

And here is the part no one really says:
Even when the program seemed to work, it was not the method that changed you. It was you. The way you showed up. The risk you took. The moment you stopped waiting for permission.

"The work was not to fix yourself. It was to stop believing you were broken."

This is not a rejection of healing. It is a reminder to check who is defining it for you. Healing does not always look sacred. Sometimes it looks like doubt. Like saying no. Like not needing another step, stage, or certification.

"Authenticity became a trend right after it became profitable."

If you are tired of the search, the spend, the performance, it does not mean you are lost. It means you are waking up. The confusion is real. So is the discomfort. And that is the beginning of unlearning. Not clarity. Not peace. Just the quiet decision to stop pretending.

You are not too sensitive. You are paying attention.

The true cost of all this is not financial. It is forgetting who you were before you started fixing yourself. Question everything, yourself included. Your bank account will thank you for it.

Always remember...JUST BREATHE!

Sources

1. Global Wellness Institute, The Global Wellness Economy: Country Rankings Report, 2023
2. Statista, U.S. Health and Wellness Market Size, 2024
3. Market.us, Complementary and Alternative Medicine Market Size and Growth, 2024
4. Grand View Research, Dietary Supplements Market Analysis, 2024
5. MarketResearch.com, Self Improvement Market Trends, 2019

If this message resonated with you, I invite you to share it forward.
Wellness expands when we pass it on, a moment of stillness, a shift in perspective, a reminder to pause. I can’t tell you how many times someone has reached out to say, “Your message came through just when I needed it.” This is why we share. You never know whose day, or mindset, you might help shift with a single post or message.

So if something here spoke to you, don’t keep it to yourself.
Send it to a friend. Post it on your feed. Mention it to someone who might need to adjust their script. One small action can ripple in powerful ways.

To explore more reflections and resources, visit:
Just Breathe | The Unscripted Mind blog: https://just-breathe.ghost.io

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