I've been listening to a lot of motivational speakers in the past two years ever since Abigail was born. It's not usually my thing, but after so many months of exhaustion, I really had to get myself out of this funk. One of the common themes between these personal coaches is that they all realized the power of the mind and how important it is to teach ourselves how to think and respond to situations.
The other thing I never want to forget is the truth that there is not one person on this planet that is exactly you and will never be another person exactly like you again. Even if someone has the exact same genetic makeup, no one has the exact same experiences, perspectives, beliefs, and values that make a person equivalent to another. I get to decide who I want to be, how I want to show up, and what kind of imprint I want to leave on this world before I leave it behind. It's fascinating to think that we all get one opportunity and none of us truly knows the exact day, hour, and minute that this opportunity ceases.
Seasons of Life. There are times that are more enjoyable than others. The times that suck although it feels like an eternity do not last. I have to admit, when I get my highs, I am on top of the world, but when I get my lows, it literally feels like death would be nice. I know that sounds horrible, but as a highly sensitive person, feelings are difficult to shake off and move through. Everything is intensified. Knowing this, as I am taking a break from the grind of life, I want to do everything I can to strengthen my mind and continuously fill my mind with a way of thinking that empowers myself and others, believes that good will eventually always prevail over the rotten and that everyone has more potential to do good than the bad that we're all tempted to act on. I don't want to be naive. I do believe that the world can and is very dark, but overall, I do not want to live my life in fear or focus on the darkness. I will make risk-based choices and remember for the most part there aren't that many wrong choices. Even with the wrong decisions I've made, I've now accepted that that was the time for me to make those decisions in order for me to become a better person. Truly this is one of the most difficult lessons for me since I tend to think that poor choices defined me as a person, will forever haunt me, and limit my future opportunities. The worst was feeling as if I had to wear a scarlet letter for everyone to shame me for the rest of my life and that if I didn't I would be dishonest to others. This fear is very real and crippling. It has given me a perfectionistic mindset. I am working very hard to grow out of it because I am learning that the people that matter most in my life are more forgiving than I give them credit for and have more capacity to love because we as people generally want to be empathetic and compassionate more than we want to judge and promote the cancel culture. Emphasis on want. We reflexively judge and react negatively, but when we give real thought to how we want to respond before or after we reacted, the majority will either try to do what's right or regret that they responded poorly and want to make things right. The people that want you to live in shame and fear are those who have unresolved issues that someday you'll feel sorry for if you knew their story even if in the present moment they are the ones who magnify your pain. This belief is hard to come by since what's depicted on the news is always so negative. I do believe in our humanity. Believing in humanity does not mean I believe that we as people will all just do the right thing. Within the human race, leaders were born to rise up and manage the chaos.
Our hardships are uniquely ours. There's no point in comparing hardships because one can never fully fathom another's full context and experience. The greatest gift hardships provide is forging our character. In our temporal lives, I believe that our character remains forever and will somehow be a part of the greater human experience. How we choose to live can cause ripple effects that are more powerful than a tsunami. It starts with our daily choices, builds into our lives, then releases into the universe.
Let us be the best "ME" we can ever be in this life starting now and restarting every day!
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