I'll never be the same again

This year I am thankful for change.

Throughout my life I have been many different individuals.

I have been a

Son,

A student,

An employee,

A husband,

And a father.

And (for many years) I was a broken individual full of regret of the past and anxiety for the future.

For a good part of my twenties I spent each day under an unbearable weight of:

- Who I was

- And the situation I found myself in

It wasn’t until years later (I’m only just now coming to terms with it)

That I began to realize that I could have pulled myself out of the hole I found myself in at any time.

Their are objective truths about the conditions of our lives.

(Ie. Our bank account, where we live, where we work, who we’re in a relationship with)

But the stories we tell ourselves about our lives are completely subjective.

Too often we catastrophize events,

Until we find ourselves drowning in an overwhelming reality.

But that fact is that it is a reality we chose to create,

And continue to choose to perpetuate.

You need to recognize that you are capable of dynamic-life changing growth-at any time in your life.

Holding on to antiquated judgment about yourself for past events isn’t healthy. And the actions of a past version of yourself should never control what you think of yourself today and how you act in the future.

It is important for you to recognize and acknowledge your past

(Hold yourself accountable for it when necessary)

But don’t let it define who you are today.

Have you ever stayed in a relationship?

(or stayed at a job)

Because you thought you had to? (Or because you were scared of change?)

We all have!

I spent years at a job that was killing me each day-

Only because it was killing me less than other jobs had in the past, and I was afraid of the unknown of heading somewhere new.

I have stayed in relationships (that neither partner benefited any longer from) for too long for this reason as well.

We have always heard the maxim:

The grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

And that often scares us when we think of change.

But the real saying should be:

The grass is greener where you water it

And if you can no longer water the lawn you find yourself buried in, you have to pull yourself up by the roots and forge a path to a new one.

You owe it to yourself.

We often advocate to push forward through struggles and adversity.

And (while this definitely has it’s merits) it is equally vital to realize when it’s time to pivot - instead of push.

Recognize when enough is enough.

Acknowledge your mistakes.

Learn and grow from them.

And be thankful that you are capable of dynamic life changing growth.