Find Peace

Written By Shatrasha Butler

Find Peace: Lessons from Stephen Colbert

If you didn’t catch the lesson in 2020, I get it. COVID was traumatic. Everything was in chaos. The world cracked open and then immediately told us to pretend it hadn’t.

But here we are. Six years later. Still getting schooled in broad daylight. This time, I’m talking about 2025 events, and the teacher was The Late Show or more specifically, what happened with Stephen Colbert.

In case you missed it… Let me break it down:

  • CBS.

  • A 33-year-old franchise.

  • Nine years of Colbert at the wheel.

  • Number one in ratings.

  • Revenue up.

  • No scandals. No real complaints. Just wins.

And yet... someone, somewhere decided: it’s time for a change.

I’m not here to talk conspiracies. I’m here to talk truth, and the truth is this: everyone is replaceable to the machine.

Yes, Colbert was paid. Yes, he’ll be fine. That’s not the point. The point is: don’t ever think being valuable to a system means the system values you. Because it doesn’t.

And if you make your peace, your worth, or your purpose dependent on being needed by a network, a company, a team, or even a title, you’ll spend your life chasing a carrot they can pull away at any time.

So here's four things that I hope you’ll try to start this year:

1. Find peace that doesn’t depend on applause.
Peace in God, if you believe. Peace in purpose, if you’re searching. But make sure it’s rooted somewhere deeper than your position on a spreadsheet.

2. Create something that makes the world better without making anyone else worse.
It doesn’t have to be big. It just has to be honest. A garden. A podcast. A poem. A business. A home. Something that gives more than it takes.

3. Learn to want less.
Because “more” has a hunger that can’t be satisfied. And when you try to feed it, little by little, it chips away at your humanity until one day you’re standing in a boardroom making decisions you don’t recognize for people you stopped seeing as people.

4. Guard your voice.
You will be offered deals. Influence. Exposure. Money. All if you’ll just bend, just a little. But ask yourself: is what you’re trading worth what you’ll lose?

Because here’s the truth nobody wants to say out loud:

They’ll always find another host. Another lawyer. Another creative. “Another”…but not quite another “you.”

So stop trying to be indispensable to the factory.

And start being irreplaceable to yourself and your family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shatrasha Butler
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The Myth of Prestige