change is a choice.
A lot has happened in my life recently to get me thinking. Sometimes life changes can be a catalyst in forward motion. The thing about a catalyst is that it only gets you in motion, it doesn't guarantee anything. People say that they want to change something about themselves or their situation every day. The hard part is action. Someone recently brought to my attention that saying you want to change and actually wanting to change are two different things altogether. I've seen it time and time again in the relationships with my friends and loved ones. The problem is sometimes people think they don't have what it takes to enact any sort of change in their life. They think that they have a desire to be different, to be better, but stay in the same patterns and routines. While I know there can be emotional or mental complications, it seems that the only way to change is to start changing. Small steps must be made every day to trigger a change of mind, of pace, of environment... It has to be not only a choice you make once but a choice you make every second of every day. I feel this may be why groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous have had such success over the years. Each person in the group knows that they have this disease but they are no longer allowing it to dictate their life. They go through life wanting to drink, needing to drink, but choosing not to. Each second is a choice not to go back to the old way of being. Every second is a step towards a new future. And the best part is, you don't have to do it alone.
So how do we improve? How do we grow if life seems to want to hold us back and let us down? First, I think it comes from throwing off the victim mentality. So many of my friends and even myself have used this tactic before to avoid the issues at hand. "I had a terrible childhood. You wouldn't believe what happened to me." Is a typical explanation. Or another "People have hurt me over the years." While these are both very sad things and hard to deal with, when it comes down to it there are people in the world who have gone through so much worse than us and still managed to enact change not just personally but globally. So maybe you should just stop making excuses for wanting to be stagnant. Maybe you should just make one small change today toward a future that you want.
The second thing that I believe is very important in making any sort of change is the environment that you put yourself into. Are the people that surround you building you up? Or are they happy to allow you to stay stagnant, or worse, hold you back? Do you surround yourself with movers and shakers? or with sitters and fakers. Good relationships are built on a mutual desire to see one another succeed. We weren't made just to survive, but to thrive. A big part of that is community. Build your community up with those who can support and encourage you. And you need to be able to give the same back. (Sidenote:If you are not emotionally stable enough to do that, then perhaps counseling would be a better first step for you. However, I am not a professional and these are just my personal thoughts.)
I've been making plans to improve myself; I desire forward motion. Recently I have begun to see that change starting to take place. I plan to return to school next month to become a graphic designer, a dream that I discovered after having written and edited my previous blog a few years back. I have decided to start writing again. I have decided that I will no longer be held back by those who are stagnant. I will surround myself with those who have goals and make strides towards those goals. It is no longer enough to just sit and watch my life pass me by. The old saying goes, "eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you die." Here's my truth bomb. Hell yeah, tomorrow you could die. Is this it? is this what you want your legacy to be? Or, conversely, is it time to wake the hell up and start thriving?
until next time,
mari.
So how do we improve? How do we grow if life seems to want to hold us back and let us down? First, I think it comes from throwing off the victim mentality. So many of my friends and even myself have used this tactic before to avoid the issues at hand. "I had a terrible childhood. You wouldn't believe what happened to me." Is a typical explanation. Or another "People have hurt me over the years." While these are both very sad things and hard to deal with, when it comes down to it there are people in the world who have gone through so much worse than us and still managed to enact change not just personally but globally. So maybe you should just stop making excuses for wanting to be stagnant. Maybe you should just make one small change today toward a future that you want.
The second thing that I believe is very important in making any sort of change is the environment that you put yourself into. Are the people that surround you building you up? Or are they happy to allow you to stay stagnant, or worse, hold you back? Do you surround yourself with movers and shakers? or with sitters and fakers. Good relationships are built on a mutual desire to see one another succeed. We weren't made just to survive, but to thrive. A big part of that is community. Build your community up with those who can support and encourage you. And you need to be able to give the same back. (Sidenote:If you are not emotionally stable enough to do that, then perhaps counseling would be a better first step for you. However, I am not a professional and these are just my personal thoughts.)
I've been making plans to improve myself; I desire forward motion. Recently I have begun to see that change starting to take place. I plan to return to school next month to become a graphic designer, a dream that I discovered after having written and edited my previous blog a few years back. I have decided to start writing again. I have decided that I will no longer be held back by those who are stagnant. I will surround myself with those who have goals and make strides towards those goals. It is no longer enough to just sit and watch my life pass me by. The old saying goes, "eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you die." Here's my truth bomb. Hell yeah, tomorrow you could die. Is this it? is this what you want your legacy to be? Or, conversely, is it time to wake the hell up and start thriving?
until next time,
mari.
Comments
Post a Comment