Let Go and Be Free
Discover tips on self-healing, overcome a dysfunctional childhood and find happiness.
Last night I woke up in the middle of the night. I rolled over and looked at the clock that read 2:48 a.m. I ha woken up from a nightmare and found it difficult to get back to sleep. I worried about work, about the coronavirus pandemic, and about my family.
I tried hard to get back to sleep, but found it difficult to do so.
Yesterday I listened to the Don’t Keep Your Day Job podcast with Jim Kwik as the guest. If you’re looking for some inspiration, I highly recommend that you listen to the full episode as Jim tells his life story and of the struggles he had with brain injuries.
During the episode, Jim said that “we are 100% responsible for our lives.”
There are some decisions that you will need to make that will be difficult. If you are on the road to self-healing from the trauma you suffered in growing up in an alcoholic or dysfunctional household, you will need to decide whether you wish to distance yourself from those who have caused you pain.
And that might include your parents.
One day, maybe it was today, you’ll wake up and realize that you are changing. Each of us is changing every single day, but there are times in life in which the change is accelerated, more mutable and visible. And beneath the surface, the metamorphosis is altering who you are.
Change can be scary and unknown and a world beyond what you could ever imagine possible.
I know that some people who are in a new relationship think that arguing means that the relationship has failed and that the only path forward is to break up.
I grew up in the opposite environment: There were arguments all the time. Hot and heavy arguments with nasty things being said. The disagreements would flare up quickly, burn bright like the sun, and later in the day moods would have settled, and everything would go back to normal.
Over the last two days, I’ve had several circumstances all come together to teach me that I need to be mindful of how my brain works when faced with success. I’ve had Gay Hendricks’ The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level book on my nightstand for months, but haven’t had time to read it.
You can search for money, power, sex, love, drugs, and rock-and-roll, but none of these things will help complete you.
There’s the famous scene in the movie Jerry Maguire in which Tom Cruise’s character tells
Renée Zellweger: “You complete me.”
The road to healing from your past takes time and might seem overwhelming. The good news is that you do not need to solve all your problems at once and that for today we will start small. Let’s take time to set an intention.
For today’s reflection, what specific intention can you set?
I invite you to write the intention down, and then to post it up on your fridge, a mirror, or a computer monitor.
Two months ago, a friend of mine gave me a fist pump. Our fists connected, skin to skin, as we stood apart with our masks on. We’re in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic and due to fears about catching the virus, people are no longer hugging.
If you grew up in an alcoholic or dysfunctional home, you might have mixed feelings about physical contact. In a 2018 article in the Washington Post, many parents are still physically disciplining their kids. And 1 out of 9 girls and 1 out of 53 boys have been sexually assaulted at the hands of an adult.
Yesterday I listened to Brené Brown’s Unlocking Us podcast and in the first episode of her second season, she spoke about “Day 2.” She defines “day 2” as the second day of a big conference—the day when you’re getting into the hard work. The fun time is over and you need to roll up your sleeves and get to work.
Brown discussed how she thinks we’re in “day 2” with the coronavirus pandemic. We’re tired of dealing with the pandemic and we’re looking to get back to how things used to be. We’re tired of restrictions and want to move on.
On a walk with a friend today, she talked about the term “radical acceptance.” In a Psychology Today article, radical acceptance is defined as “accepting life on life’s terms and not resisting what you cannot or choose not to change.”
I know that I’ve spent a lot of time and energy worrying about the past or focusing on how things “shouldn’t” be a certain way. The reality is that bad things happen to good people. How we embrace life’s events defines us.
