“I’ve never seen any life transformation that didn’t begin with the person in question finally getting sick of their own bullshit.” – Elizabeth Gilbert.
Are you sick of your own bullshit yet?
I know so many people who complain about the same things over and over, yet do nothing to change it. Fear of the unknown seems to be greater than the fear of staying miserable. The thought of being temporarily uncomfortable must be scarier than the thought of complacency and settling. That’s just not right. Somehow we have to conquer that fear or we will end up in a nursing home someday wondering why the hell we didn’t do what made us happy when we had the chance. I do not want to be that person.
As a friend, I will be that person who listens to you bitch about the same thing over and over again. I will love you through it. I will support you fiercely. But I will also be raging on the inside because I see so much potential for happiness in you, but you don’t see it. I will give you my best advice and try to give you some strength to make the changes you need to make, but I also know that you need to be ready. And in all honesty, I will be that person who gives solid advice but yet I don’t listen to myself half the time!
Why is fear so powerful?
Ten months ago, I had an epiphany. Fear was running my life. I was afraid of everything. I was assaulted and that made me terribly jumpy and timid. I would see something out of the corner of my eye and I would jump. Someone would come up behind me and I would scream or give them the death look as if I was ready to pounce. I was living with constant fear. I was having nightmares and feelings of dread and doom. I was miserable. I asked myself if I wanted to live my life with such negative thoughts, or if I wanted to do something about it and make it better. So I decided to start writing. And then I decided to share my stories. Little by little, I started taking steps to regain control of my life. I decided that even if I took baby steps, at least I was being proactive in finding my happiness.
I won’t lie, it was terrifying. Putting yourself out there is risky and there’s always going to be haters. There are always going to be people who want to put you down or people that just don’t want you to succeed. But the best part is, you can just cut them out of your life. You don’t want them around anyways! You’re the one in control here! Never forget that. We hold the key to our happiness. We choose how we react to someone else’s negativity. We are responsible for our own peace of mind. No one else can give you that. YOU have to choose to take steps towards finding it.
I was starting to feel very out of shape and I didn’t like it. So I bought myself a yoga trapeze and I’ve been working out every day. I cut soda out of my diet and switched to lemon water. These two little life changes have made me feel awesome, not only physically but mentally too! I’m proud of myself for making these little changes, because I know I’m doing something to improve myself.
Although writing and sharing my stories has not made me less afraid or jumpy, I know that it has had a very positive impact on my soul. It has been healing just releasing the words on to paper and it has been such a blessing to hear about how my writing has helped someone else. One person wrote that my words made her feel less alone and that I was able to say what she couldn’t. That was enough positive reinforcement to get me by for the next month! What a wonderful thing to hear. I now know that for every negative word that is spewed my way, there will be more positive ones and that is what gets me through. We have to surround ourselves with those who build us up and push us to be better. And being better also means being happier.
So stop wasting time. Find what makes you happy and go after it! If you’re sick and tired of your own bullshit, then change it! Even if you take one little step at a time, or even if you have to crawl. Just move. Do something. Stop the complaining because putting all of that negative energy out into the world will only find its way back to you.
Dare to do what you are so afraid of. I was afraid of my truth until I owned it and I can honestly say I feel freer than I ever have. Don’t live a life of “if only” or “I should”. Do. Move. Shift. Change. Transform. Grow.
“You’re wishing too much baby. You gotta stop wearing your wishbone where your backbone oughtta be”. – Elizabeth Gilbert.
Looping Laura 