Do you realize that you are alive in the greatest time? We are living in one of the best times in history. One day our descendants will look back, and they’ll be amazed at how much we’ve accomplished. As a member of Generation Z, the reality of life seems bleak. We are experiencing: the grave effects of climate change, the rise of Trumps/Bolsanoros/Jinpings/Dutertes, and an ever-widening wealth disparity. There appears to be no hope.
We can all agree that the days of our parents and grandparents are over. Student loan debt, fleeting job market, evolving pathogens, etc… It’s not surprising that depression and anxiety are common amongst people. This world has a way of making you forget who you are, or why you are alive. Maybe there’s some “toxin” in the air or food. However, I’m here to tell you that we have the power to course-correct.
The future is ours. We have at our disposal a vast amount of: knowledge, technology, time, and energy. How are you using yours? No two minds think alike. We are at the edge of life as we know it. Abundance, creativity, and expansion are all characteristics of our universe. One day you’ll wake up with a new mentality, or a different outlook. Life won’t seem scary. It will feel like you belong, because you are here to do something of significance. The post title is so that whomever reads this can finally see themselves as the author of their own story. There is much more to be written.
Life lesson: Stop holding onto people who don’t want to be a part of your life, or treat you like garbage. If someone is toxic to your wellbeing, why would you cling to a connection with them? This lesson includes: acquaintances, friends, romantic partners, and family. Toxicity breeds toxicity.
If your intuition is telling you this person is bad news, very often your intuition is correct. Bad treatment is at no fault of yours; however, it does reflect on the psychological health of another person. This is not to say that the person in question is a “bad” person so to speak. It simply means that this person has their own personal issues (or lessons) to work through, and they must work through them alone. You cannot help them.
One of the hardest things to do in life is to fully let someone or something go. The amount of time that you’ve spent on a person or experience means nothing, if it continues to drain you of joy and disrupts your inner peace. This isn’t just a physical detachment, but also a detachment from your psyche. Stop thinking about them, and focus on yourself. Believe it or not, you do have the power to choose your own thoughts.
I notice too often that people of all ages, never fully release certain experiences and people that plague them. Life advice: what is meant for you shall never pass you. If someone or something is meant to be a part of your life, it will be there without any resistance. What is resistance? Resistance is that feeling of doubt, inferiority, or just all around negative energy. Essentially, resistance exhausts you without there being any strenuous physical activity.
The most powerful aspect of detaching from a toxic person or situation is that you have the ability to choose. You can choose to move on. You can choose to let go. You can choose to open your life to people that compliment, and/or add value into your life. You can choose to want better. You can choose to understand that there are much greater things to come. Instead of clinging to that one thing/person, you can choose to trust in the process of life. There is not just one single, defining moment in your life, there are many. People who never fully move on and let go, do not grow into the greatest and best versions of themselves.
I notice many are beginning to explore the topic of mindfulness. Not that long ago, I realized that what makes me depressed is thinking of the past. But more than just thinking of the past, I was living in it. Thinking of the past is reflecting upon a memory or reminiscing on an experience. Living in the past is adding a feeling or an emotion to that memory or experience.
Something or someone would trigger a past memory in which I would mentally transport myself backwards through time. Some may say, “but what’s so wrong with the past?” It’s not as if anything is wrong with the past in itself, I have wonderful memories of opening gifts on Christmas, and birthdays at Disney World. The problem with thinking of the past is that I have completely connected my past to emotions/feelings of pain and trauma.
I cannot speak for everyone, but only myself. I have intertwined most of my past with the negative emotions of fear, anger, shame, guilt, sadness, and trauma. I cannot rewire my brain into thinking any differently for those moments that have happened. I was ignorant. I wasn’t aware of life, as I see it now. Life happens through you, not to you.
Most people are taught to live life through these negative and lacking emotions. We must hide who we are, we mustn’t give away too much nor too little, we must be as normal as possible, and so on. A truly fulfilling life cannot be lived by someone inauthentic, or someone who masks who they are in the world. A truly fulfilling life requires an individual to be honest with who and what they are. It requires being freely you.
Another problem with thinking of the past and even the future is that you are taking yourself out of the current experience. When so much of your time is given to events that have occurred and those not yet to come, we lose out on what it means to be actually alive. Being alive is being present.
The only powerful thing that was left for me to do was to begin again. Start over. It means I must forget the past, or at least try to.
I must forget the past, or at least try to.
Forgetting the past does not give me free reign to make foolish mistakes over and over again. Forgetting the past doesn’t absolve those who have harmed or hurt me in some way or capacity. The mistakes I’ve made and the experiences I’ve had, I’ve learned from them. Forgetting the past helps me move forward into the present time.
The present time is the most essential part of life that anyone has. Being in the present is being who I am. The present doesn’t depend on what I’ve done, who I’ve met, where I’ve been, etc… The present time is endless. I’m not sulking over the past, and I’m not obsessing over the future. I simply am conscious in being in the right here and right now.
The way I see life is from a place of optimism. My glass is half full, and nothing less. Because I have changed how I perceive the world and my experiences, I can look back at these coming years with fondness and pride. I don’t know exactly what’s to come, but I’m excited for what is to come.
The future doesn’t depend on our past, it depends on what you are doing right now. Apply for that position, talk to that cute guy/girl you’ve been crushing on, plan that trip that you’ve been meaning to take, and just get out of your own way.
What if I told you that you could have anything that you ever desire?
Your mindset can exponentially effect your life. If you believe in committing to “reality,” and maintaining a belief that “things just don’t work out for me,” well then congratulations because that’s exactly what you will receive. When you truly believe in something, your actions follow. I think that in the course of most people’s lives we come to a mindset of complacency and inadequacy.
We compare our lives to those of others. “Well, it’s not as great as this, but at least it’s not that.” What do you dream of? What is the life you dream of having? I’m a dreamer, so dreams matter to me. Dreams (literal and imaginative) are the foundation of my thoughts, and my beliefs form from them.
Just because things always were a certain way, doesn’t mean that they should remain that way. Life is about change; if you don’t change, you will perish.
In order to complete a portion of my life’s work, I had to travel thousands of miles to a new country and city. It was terrifying. I left behind friends, family, and most importantly my comfort. Coming to Canada was a step outside of my comfort zone, and I knew before I entered the country that it wasn’t going to be easy. However, I remember someone telling me “anything worth doing is never easy.”
So I tell you dear reader, becoming the person that you dream or envision yourself of being is never easy. However, do you step outside of your comfort zone?
This travels beyond physical, but rather your mental capacity. Are you thinking outside of your comfort zone? Do you think differently? When you believe in something, your actions follow. I have to restate this fact, because it’s pertinent in grasping this concept. Once your mindset is improved, you will begin to see life differently. More importantly, this will allow you to recognize how much control you have over your life.
When you are presented with an opportunity, take it. Luck isn’t a genie granting a wish. Rather, it’s more similar to that one opportunity that you decided to take. So I implore you to take this opportunity. Think better thoughts; don’t limit your thoughts. Go out and meet those people, go to that event, take that job offer, be happy, and be at peace. Yes, things do work out for you. You are enough in this life. Whatever thoughts and beliefs that hold you back in life, release them. Exceptional thinking will sow exceptional results.
Take it from me, it will not be easy. In fact, you will have to do much active thinking in order to change. But over time those new and improved thoughts will become your reality. Also, as a reminder remain authentically you because it’s priceless, and you can never be replicated.
