A Brief Intro, & Explanation
Where to start, and not seem like I am seeking sympathy. A conundrum to be sure.
There is one way. The facts, in bullet form…
- I am not under 40
- I have 2 autoimmune conditions
- One of those is Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
- I have a J.O.B
- I have pets
- I have hang-ups (like everyone else in the world)
- I suspect I may be burnt out (LOL, let’s just downplay that one why don’t we)
- Largely due to my own actions and decisions
- I am embarking on a self growth quest
I think that covers the important points. Why bullet form? Well it is there as a matter of fact list and not a long rambling paragraph with adjectives that describe feelings about the points listed.
Where to now?
Have you ever asked yourself the question - “Am I living or simply surviving?”. The answer for a lot of us would probably be surviving.
Getting out of bed, going to work, coming home, going to bed, getting out of bed… on repeat every day, let’s call this the survival mode. That does not show someone who is living, it shows someone who is surviving. The next question is - “What is your reason for surviving and not living?”. In the survival mode example I presented I would say the reason for survival is to work each day. Okay, so why do you work each day, to earn money of course. Now we are getting somewhere, why do you need money, to provide for you family and have a roof over your weary head of course.
Now ask yourself another question, dig deep and answer it honestly - “When last did you do something that really excited you, challenged you?”, better still, a simpler and more powerful question is - “Are you happy?. If you are actually being honest with yourself, asking yourself if you are happy is more impactful. If you are happy you will create a world for yourself where you can be the best you can be for yourself and your loved ones. If you are not happy the people closest to you will be affected by this and in turn will be very unhappy. So you are surviving, providing for your family, but you have allowed yourself to become another machine in a world of unhappy, empty machines.
Before you go off the deep end saying “But I have to work, or my family starves!”, I am fully aware of the fact that we need to make money for a roof over our heads, education and food etc… I do however think that we could make changes to improve the situation instead of just continuing down a very sad and meaningless road. I heard someone say, in a podcast I can’t remember the name of right now, that there are things life that are out of our control but we can control how we react to those things.
In future posts I will expand on my thoughts surrounding ways to help yourself to live, not just survive. In the meantime, ask yourselves the questions I have asked here, and be honest with your answers. You can try harder to be the best you can be, doing this will not only inspire others to follow you but your happiness will bring happiness to your loved ones.
An interesting last thought to ponder, if you are a father or mother and you find your children are a challenge and just don’t care about learning or listening to what you have to say, are you setting an example for them that could inspire them? Are you just floating through life expecting teachers or housekeepers to be the example that you should be? If you are a husband or a wife you can ask the same question, although if you expect a housekeeper to be an example, you have bigger problems that I really can’t help you with…
Remember, you can’t expect your loved one to be their absolute best if you are not going to take your own growth seriously.
My goal now is to start working on myself.
Small things will build up to bigger and better things.
