Do you feel like you have a black cloud always hanging over your head? As if everyday your life is filled with heartache and pain. Like you take a couple steps forward only to get knocked back double the steps you took forward. Are you always stumbling in the dark and never able to see the light? Is the world constantly raining on your parade?First, quit whining and stop feeling sorry for yourself. You and only you can change how to deal with the black clouds hanging over your head. Now, in reality, you really only have two options. You can sit where you are, complaining about how pitiful your life is, talking about how the world is so awful to you. Or you can pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and move forward.
The first option is easy. However, it also becomes a trap we can not get out of easily. Imagine being stuck in quicksand. Always struggling, never making progress. The problem occurs with the second option. It requires you to change. Hmm, change is a word that most people associate with negative thoughts.
What is it about change that scares people so badly? Is it unknown? Is it fear? Is it fear of being left behind? Do you feel like you aren't worthy of change? Maybe a little of all the above? I think it is more so because change is hard work. Action from you is required for change to happen.
Now for the people who are against change, go ahead and scroll on. There is nothing here for you. I don’t take excuses. And I sure don’t want to hear you whine. I have no time for that. I have heard it all before and I am done. For the people who want better, keep reading. There is hope for you.
The black clouds in the sky aren’t big enough to cover every inch of the sky. So that means it isn’t raining or storming everywhere. There are breaks in the clouds and rain. But I bet you are so stubborn and self-absorbed that you can’t even see the sun trying to shine through. Instead, you dig your feet down into the mud and declare you are not moving. It will be the same everywhere I go, you say. That’s ok, babe. Stand your ground. While you are sitting there being miserable, I am going to find the rainbow.
Here is the great big secret everyone is trying to sell you about life. In order to search for the rainbow, you are going to have to go outside and get wet. You have to take action. You will slip and slide through the mud. (But when you do, try to laugh about it and have some fun.) Then, get up and move forward. It may be slow going since now you are covered in mud, but forward progress is still progress. You can’t be afraid of getting your hands wet or dirty. Look for the forward progress in your life. Fear will steal your life right from underneath you if you let it. The hard work is worth getting to the other side. But again, it takes you, taking action. You can not dream your life into reality. You have to put in the work. The hard work.
We climb to the top of the mountain to enjoy the view, not because we enjoy the climb.
There will be days when the rain is too heavy to see what is directly in front of you. On those days, instead of physically moving forward, stay inside and move forward mentally or spiritually. Read that book you bought months ago. Read several books. Take action. Don’t let that storm or rain shower squash your dreams. Eventually, the storm will move on and you need to be ready to get back out in the trenches. You have to be armed and ready to fight the thoughts you will have when you are tired and want to give up.
In order to win the battle, you need to be feeding your mind all of the reasons you deserve change. In order for that to happen, you MUST leave the past in the past and move forward. You can’t move forward while looking in the rearview mirror.
Hey, it is ok to take a break. Have some fun along the way, you need it and your mind needs it. Go run outside and dance in the rain a little. (unless there are thunder and lightning, then stay inside) Somewhere along the way of growing up, we started to fear the rain. As if us getting wet somehow stained us, ruined our day, or set us back. Instead, think of the rain as washing away all the fear, doubt, insecurities we have picked up along the way, bringing us back to a state of mind similar to when we were kids. Very much like the restart button on your phone. The rain can clear our minds for new opportunities, new thoughts, new challenges, new routines. Or even better new adventures.
The routines we allow ourselves to fall victim to are our own worst enemies. Routines or habits are understandable. After all, we are creatures of habit. The problem occurs when we never stray from routines. It seems like growing up we all are striving to make it to the same destination... our comfort zone. Unfortunately, that is the worst location we can settle into. We stop growing and learning. We become boring. Worse we become judgemental. We stop trying new things. We allow the word change to paralyze us. Fear has a new breeding ground.
We get comfortable. Comfortable is a dangerous place to be in a world that is constantly evolving. One of the most overused phrases in our language “we have always done it this way”. How lame!
I will leave you with this...while you feel the rain beating you down, someone else is feeling the sun touch their skin and searching for the rainbow ahead. Change your perspective, change your life.
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