It’s easier to walk away than to stay the course when it gets hard.
But I am learning that emotions are a dangerous place to build anything solid on.
Life gets hard. It’s not all happy. It’s not all easy. As much as I’ll be the first to say I’m all about the magic, now I’m wise enough to know there is another side to this coin — the cold hard, facts of reality. Ouch, does it hurt.
Will you stay only when the days are good? When the sun is out and everyone is dancing and there is plenty? Or will you stay when it actually matters — when the thunderstorms block out the sunshine, when there’s no one out to play, and when now there is less than enough?
It is easy to stay when there’s laughter. When there’s joy. When there’s fun. It’s not easy to stay when there’s pain, when there’s loss, when reality blocks out the magic.
You will get sick one day. You will be sad. You will lose the spark. You will feel pain. And that is when we need each other the most. That is when it matters to stay. To say “I’m right here. You don’t have to be okay. You don’t have to be happy. You don’t have to put on a show. You don’t have to pretend. You don’t have to be anything or do anything. I’m right here.”
Oh, what a love. A love that stays. A love that stays in the good days and the bad, in the in between, in the mundane.
I’ll be with you on the highs. I’ll be with you on the lows. I’ll be with you in the messy middle. I’ll be with you in the mundane. I’ll be with you when it’s sunshine, I’ll be with you when it rains. I’ll be with you in your weakness, I’ll be with you in your strength. I’ll be with you when you’re lost and have no clue what you’re doing. I won’t give up just because it’s hard. I won’t give up just because it’s suddenly inconvenient, suddenly it isn’t fun. No. I will stay.
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I am finding that this gift of staying is one of the best gifts we can give ourselves. To be here even on the days you feel like a troll and wonder where the heck your youth has gone. In sickness and in health. In bounty or desert. I am right here. I am right there. I am not going anywhere. I am with you from the moment you were born and I will be with you until your last breath. I will not leave or abandon you. I am right here. I am right there.
I wish you could see how strong you really are.
How capable.
How everything you’ve ever wanted is but a choice away.
That if you believed and saw the light within you’d be unstoppable.
I am learning that in order to make life happen you gotta really want it. You could have your dreams or you can have your excuses but you can’t have both.
It doesn’t even have to be difficult. There are ways to break down big goals into smaller bite size goals that can be easily accomplished.
What do you want?
Really.
What do you truly want?
Are you afraid to dream big?
Or are you able to dream but tell yourself it just isn’t possible?
Well.
I’m here to tell you that you CAN dream big and you CAN make it happen.
The thing is, that BIG dreams require BIG action.
Are you up for the work?
Because nothing comes without energy.
Energy will be needed to bring about that vision into reality.
It can be done in easy, small steps.
Are you willing to be patient?
Great accomplishments take time.
Are you willing to enjoy the process and be happy in the here and now as you move towards the climax of your life?
Are you willing to remain present? Remain joyful every step of the way?
Are you willing to stay committed? Encouraged even when there are unexpected setbacks?
Life is unpredictable. We gotta learn to adapt. Adjust. Be flexible.
Play. Dance. Move with the flow.
Know that you have everything it takes, keep at it, and don’t give up.
A lot of times we don’t achieve the results we desire because we behave in opposition to the results we want to manifest. We say things like “I want a new job,” but don’t fix up our resume and actually apply to new jobs. We say, “I want to lose weight,” then continue to eat unhealthy meals and do little to no exercise. It is no surprise that we keep hitting the same brick wall and remain stuck in the same old story. It is so much easier to just keep doing what we have always been doing because our brains have developed strong neural connections for our current behaviors. Therefore, change, at first, won’t come easy. The moment we start creating new habits, our bodies will naturally want to gravitate back into the old, familiar behaviors. So it is crucial that we be consistent.
Suppose you want to start eating vegetables every day but your body is used to eating bread every day, your bread cravings will naturally surface. Your body will say to you, “OoOh, look at that yummy piece of bread. Wouldn’t it just be amazing to have it with some delicious butter?” Your body will remind you of the salty-sweet, rich smell of bread. It will recall to you how comforting it feels to just bite into that soft piece of deliciousness and how satisfying it makes your belly feel. If at that moment, right when your old patterns start to creep in, you do not make the conscious decision to say, “BREAD – ALTHOUGH YOU ARE DELICIOUS, I AM GOING TO EAT SOME BROCCOLI AND CARROTS INSTEAD,” then you will fall back into your old pattern. You have to say “NO” to whatever is against the result you want to achieve. I’ve used bread as an example, (I love me some bread, mmmm) but it’s the same equation with anything else you want to change in your life. The old pattern will creep in and you must interrupt it with the new pattern you want to make habit of.
Real change will happen once you start to take consistent action towards your desired goal. Caveat – you may not always want to take the necessary action to get what you want. You may not always want to get up early before work to go exercise. You may not always want to spend hours in front of your computer to search for new jobs. You may not always want to eat broccoli instead of a Wendy’s burger (mmmmm). It’s not about wanting to. You have to listen to the inner sergeant within you that fiercely commands you, “GET THE HECK UP AND JUST FREAKING DO IT ANYWAY!” Great results require your committed effort on days that you feel like it and on days that you don’t. Even when you don’t really feel like taking action, push yourself. You have to be consistent if you want to see real results. You will be so glad you did!
(Picture credit to Google images)
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