Ever feel like you are on a hamster wheel just running and running without any change? Ever feel like the Dunkin Donuts commercial man getting up over and over to make the donuts? Do you realize that no one can change your life except you? You may have circumstances that affect your life but it is ultimately you that gets to determine how you react or not.
Do you find yourself wanting to implement change but just not being able to follow through? Do you look at others and think, they have it together, why can’t I? Stop comparing yourself. You have no idea what that person has gone through to get where they are at. Many times the ones that appear to have it together have been in the darkest of holes and had to scrape and claw their way to where they are. Do not compare, rather, allow their strength they emit to encourage you.
Sometimes when we try to implement a change we bite off more than we can chew and then we fail. Instead of taking a moment and taking a smaller bite, a smaller step, we do the black or white thinking. The all in or all out mentality. Stop and reassess. Readjust and take a smaller step.
There’s a quote I read recently that a baby doesn’t think, oh, I’ve tried thousands of times to walk, I’m just going to give up. YOU have been that baby, and guess what? You figured it out! You figured out how to walk! See, you already have the idea of what it takes to overcome your challenges.
What are you trying to implement in your life? Release the need for control? What if you start out just recognizing when you are trying to control things? The first step in making any type of change is recognizing what triggers you.
I had a situation come up recently. I set expectations of how someone was to respond. I wanted them to call me and exclaim how excited they were for me, to share in the excitement that I was feeling. When they didn’t respond the way I wanted them to, I felt hurt, betrayed, abandoned. I struggled, seriously struggled and questioned our friendship even. This is a habit that I have had for a very long time. I am learning to change this habit, this belief. I am learning to recognize when I set these expectations and then release them. In journaling I wrote out that I am going to look for the positives of things, the gratitude. I focused my energy on this one person instead of the awesome positive energy that I was receiving from everyone else. This is limited living.
Everything is a work in progress and because of this, everything can be tweaked. Don’t like where you are at in your life? Look for a small step you can make. It may be waking up in the morning not grabbing your phone and instead just look at the ceiling and take some deep breath’s saying to yourself, I’ve got this, I’m setting an intention for a good day, I will handle the day with grace and calm. I trust all is well. By doing this simple step, you will change the trajectory of your life.
If you’ve ever measured something and been off even a millimeter, you can realize how even one small movement can change how things look and feel. Now take it on a bigger scale and think about your life span, and how each millimeter of thought has changed where you are at today.
Focus on what you CAN do, rather than what you can’t. What small step are you implementing today?
