On being the best that you can: part 3

Stop denying yourself a break: For years I have failed at this point. I work myself down to the bone then wonder why I can’t get out of bed in the morning. My problem is that I don’t know when it is acceptable to simply take a break. It is as though the best time to actually take a breather is the only moment you can’t afford to, so it seems. If you simply allow yourself a moment to reflect and have a break, no matter how small it is, you will be able to achieve more in the long run and your mental and physical health will adore you for it.

Stop overlooking the beauty of small moments: It is so vital to remember to enjoy the little things. One day you will look back and realise that they were actually the big things and you missed/overlooked them. We live our lives how we live our days, so there is no point living 5 years ahead at all times as you will miss the “right now” and right now is where we are.

Stop trying to make things perfect: This is a point I need to stick in clear view of myself at all times. I am a perfectionist to the core. I run around my office and house just picking up little messes that really could have been left, changing entire lists of text to a specific font because of one particular word, just ridiculous little things. But the point is, the world does not reward perfectionists for the extra mile, the world rewards people who do the job at hand. Yes, try your hardest, but move on once it is done, we (myself definitely included) need to know when it is time to stop and move to the next project.

Stop following the easiest path: Life is not easy. It is a constant challenge and many of us get lost within the tangles. However, others find something magnificent that is so great is simply must be shared. We need to stop taking the easiest path all the time, as it means we are losing the opportunity to bloom into something more beautiful, or creative or to find something we never even knew we had lost.

Stop pretending to be happy if you aren’t: I will say it again; life is not easy. My boyfriend knows this all too well. Every few months I will have this crazy breakdown and demand we go away to some rural bohemian town together to “breathe” (I am sorry Danny; you really are very patient). The point is that it is okay to simply break down sometimes. Take leave from your mind for 10 minutes and just fall apart because you need to in order to rebuild. But don’t forget to rebuild. This world is too beautiful to let the darkness take you over. We are all strong amazing people; however sometimes we just need a moment to catch our breath, don’t be afraid to break down sometimes. There is no shame in it.

Stop blaming others for your troubles: You have the potential to achieve anything, so long as you take responsibility for your own actions. This means that if you stuff up you need to acknowledge that it was your mistake and rectify it. This does not mean hating yourself, this means realising how far the tentacles of our own actions can reach. When you blame others for your troubles or problems, you are denying responsibility and are handing over the power to parts of your life.

Stop trying to be everything to everyone: This is a tough one. It is hard to be there for everyone all of the time. We all have a lot of people in our lives, but the important point to remember is that each of those have other people in their lives too, people who are also there for them, so please don’t feel that you are the only person who can help, there are others. There is no point in overburdening yourself, as then there will be none of you to go around at all.

Stop worrying so much: Worry is probably my deepest foe. No matter where I am, suddenly pop “have you paid the phone bill?” “sure you have enough cat food to last the week?” trivial little worries pop into my head. Worrying about these little tasks will not remove their existence from my life, it simply pushes the fear of the worse case scenario to the foreground. Focus on the positive, and what is important. If it will not be important a year or more into the future then simply don’t worry about it.

Stop focusing on the worse case scenario: We make our destiny with good intentions. If I focused on the worse case scenario all the time, I would never have even started blogging. When I first started writing I was terrified of people seeing what I wrote. I thought they would laugh at me. Had I let that hold me back I would never have discovered my passion for words. Focus on the positive and it will manifest itself in your life.

Stop being ungrateful: I don’t mean this in the sense of not respecting what you have, but in it’s simplest form. No matter how good or bad your day was, wake up with the knowledge that someone out there is fighting for just one more day here. There will always be someone who has it worse off. Try thinking about what you have that others are missing out on.