Just Give Up....

Just give up.....

-Pretending that you have to be who you used to be. When times get tough, our worst battle is often between what we remember and what we presently feel.  Thus, one of the hardest decisions you will ever have to make is when to stay put and struggle harder or when to take your memories and move on.  Sometimes you have to step outside of the person you’ve been, and remember the person you were meant to be, the person you are capable of being, and the person you truly are today.

-Berating yourself for everything you aren’t. Being kind to yourself in thoughts, words and actions is as important as being kind to others.  Extend yourself this courtesy.  Love yourself – your real self.  Work through your fears (dive deep), your insecurities (speak honestly and loudly), and your anger (scream into the pillow – not into the mirror, nor the people you care about; they don’t deserve it.)  Instead of hurting yourself by hiding from your problems, help yourself grow beyond them.  That’s what self-care is all about.  It’s about facing the inner issues that make you believe that you are less than you are.  It’s learning to see that you are already beautiful.  Not because you’re blind to your shortcomings, but because you know they have to be there to balance out your strengths. 

-Regretting, and holding on to, what happened in the past. When you stay stuck in regret of the life you think you should have had, you end up missing the beauty of what you do have.  Not all the puzzle pieces of life will seem to fit together at first, but in time you’ll realize they do, perfectly.  So thank the things that didn’t work out, because they just made room for the things that will.  And thank the ones who walked away from you, because they just made room for the ones who won’t.  As they say, every new beginning comes from another beginning’s end.

-Getting caught up in the negativity surrounding you. To be positive in negative times is not just foolish optimism.  It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of tragedy, but also of success, sacrifice, courage, kindness, and growth.  What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine how well we live.  If we look only for the worst, it destroys our capacity to do our best work.  If we remember those times and places, and there are many, in which people have behaved magnificently, and things have gone well, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning world in a different direction.  And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to sit around and wait for some grandiose and perfect future.  The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live right now as we think we should live, in defiance of all the negativity around us, is in itself an amazing victory.

-Thinking that everyone else has it so much easier than you. When times get really tough, remember this simple truth: Nothing that’s worthwhile is ever easy.  And when you’re struggling with something that’s important to you, and you feel like your life isn’t fair, look at all the people around you and realize that every single person you see is struggling with something, and to them, it’s just as hard as what you’re going through.