The other day I felt such a feeling of frustration. I’m continuously telling my girls that if they want something in life be it today or tomorrow they have to go out and get it. “Ask for it! You want something? Ask. Don’t just wish for what you want because as Mammy from ‘Gone with the Wind’ said, “Wishin’ ain’t gettin’.”
As a child who never asked for what they wanted, just wished and hoped for mind-reading, and always felt dissatisfied I have turned into an adult who is always working to change this type of attitude and behavior. So many of us don’t and I see it everyday. Dissatisfied with jobs, marriages, friendships and our bodies. Yet we just continue to plod on in our old behavior, wishing for a miraculous change. Newsflash! Life is what YOU make of it. The following is from an oldie but goody post.
See sign above? Yup. Really nothing more needs to be said but sometimes I find myself in conversations with people who talk as if they have no control over their lives. It baffles me. I’m not saying I’m some life coach or guru of sorts. Far be it from me to dispense any real advice but uh… I’m about to. Why? Because when I hear people talk like this I get mad. Damn mad. So mad I think of this scene from Network.
Your life is your own. Yours. You have to live it as if each day were your last (that doesn’t mean quit your job or rob a bank either). I know real pearls of wisdom right there. But seriously, if you are waiting for some big moment in your life to happen to make it all amazingly better (to bring romance into your life, adventure, fix your spouse, or even you) it is not going to happen unless you take action. Stop living passively and begin to live actively. Ask for what you want. Don’t just wish! Demand it! Make it happen! Stop putting off things like dream trips for when you are old and retired and start saving and creating them today.
I say this not because it is a new year, though it is a good time to put it all in perspective, but because as I draw closer to my one-year mark of trying to live my dream of being a writer I realize the milestones, achievements, failures and what I did to get here. What I sacrificed and won. It wasn’t always easy or fun and sometimes it was downright petrifying filled with sweaty nights of no sleep and endless worry. BUT. It’s been one of the best years of my life. I asked for it, I created it and I got it. I asked for support from my family and friends and I got it. I’m living my life authentically and it hasn’t been as earth-shattering as I thought it would be either.
It is just change. Change is good. Change is needed. It isn’t some life threatening illness or accident that should finally push you to evaluate your life. There is no big crescendo of music and sappy photo montage that will play before your eyes. Life doesn’t work that way as much as we might want it too. Your life is in YOUR hands. If you want things to be different it is up to YOU to change them. Join a group, join a freakin’ gym if that is all it is, volunteer, contribute to something that is greater than yourself. Change careers, change vacation plans, change your kitchen if that will help. Just stop being afraid, get off the bench and do something!
You only get one life. There are no re-dos. Please stop and think. Should you really be a passive watcher of your own life or should you be actively participating in it? It is a whole lot more exciting when you decide to participate.
And I’m spent…
*This post was brought to you by lots of expectorant and other assorted decongestants, cough suppressants and caffeine. Also known as Mummy’s sick-bed.
**Poster by Linzie Hunter.
I love this post. And I want to quit my job.
Oh, Jodi. We’ve had this discussion before. These big, sometimes life-altering decisions are never easy, neither is the transition but it frees up so much emotionally and changes your life almost immediately.
This is great !! Truth in no other form …. something I’m learning to do .. is make a plan for change and carry it out !