If (this) happens, then I will be happy. If (that) doesn’t happen, then I am a failure. If I do this, then they will be angry with me. If I don’t do that, then they will call me selfish. We all have had some sort of thoughts along these lines at one time or another. What is it like in your head? How do you talk to yourself? Harshly or with compassion?
If we feel we aren’t good enough, smart enough, attractive enough, etc. (what’s wrong with me?) then our mind will look for evidence that supports that belief. On the flip side, if we feel we are capable of taking control of our own lives and being true to ourselves, then our mind will look for evidence that supports that belief.
“The choice to take action to accomplish what you want or what you deserve is entirely up to you. No one is going to seek you out and no one is going to do it for you. It’s your move.”
Catherine Pulsifer
Life is a series of decisions, some good, some bad, yet every day we are building our lives. Are we being true to ourselves? Are we taking the lessons we learn and applying them consistently, or do we keep having the same old junk show up because we keep thinking and behaving in the same old ways? Remember, it is said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome.
“You shape your future every day through the choices you make. That’s sort of a hard one to swallow, isn’t it? It would be much easier to say you are a victim of circumstances. Then you don’t have to act. Your choices create your reality.”
Jason Harvey
Are we so afraid of what others think that we just go along with everyone else, feeling miserable, because we’re too scared to make our own choices? Do we want to end up with regrets at the end of our lives for not doing what we wish we would have done or doing something we wish we hadn’t? We have no power to change the past and wasting time and energy on wishing on “what could have been” is pointless, yet we tend to wallow in it instead of letting it go. However, we can start where we are; we can forgive ourselves and others and set ourselves free to enjoy the life we want to live. We must be the catalyst for the change we want to bring about in our lives.
“There are moments when one has to choose between living one’s own life fully, entirely, completely, or dragging out some false, shallow, degrading existence that the world in its hypocrisy demands.”
Oscar Wilde
If we want to live the life that makes us truly happy, then we must follow our own intuition, make our own choices, and stop comparing ourselves to others and worrying about what they will think if we forge our own path. If we choose to accept where we are on that path right now and be happy anyway, then we are headed in the right direction.
“In every single thing you do, you are choosing a direction. Your life is a product of choices.”
Dr. Kathleen Hall
The Weekly Post 