Dare to Step Out of Your Box and Live

I recently came across a piece of content by Luke Mind Power that really resonated with me. He shares empowering messages about self-love, positive thinking, and believing in yourself. Honestly, I need that kind of encouragement right now. His encouragement was to Dare to Step Out of Your Box and Live.

This season of life has been incredibly difficult for me. I feel exhausted. As I’ve shared in recent posts, I’ve withdrawn into myself to preserve what little sanity I have left. Everyone reaches their breaking point at different times, and we all handle situations uniquely. What I’ve been through feels traumatic to me, but for others, it might seem like a walk in the park—and vice versa. People cope with challenges differently.

Perspective

I don’t share a lot of personal details because, often, I get unsolicited advice and “I would” statements. I appreciate that people mean well, but in my mind, I think, “Let’s hope you’re never in my situation, but if you are, I’m sure you ‘would’ do this or that.” Right now, we are choosing to make decisions that feel right for us. We are literally living moment by moment. If the choices we make don’t sit well with someone else, that’s their problem, not ours. We might have made the wrong decisions, but we’re doing the best we can.

It’s exhausting to try to navigate life, make decisions, confide in others, get advice, and follow it, only to find ourselves in a tough situation. This cycle of self-doubt—wondering if things would be different if I had listened to someone else—has to stop.

In my heart, I know that we are loved and prayed for. I understand that people want to help or fix the situation, and that’s natural. No one likes to see someone in pain, and I respect that. But here’s the thing—please only give advice when it’s asked for. As a therapist, I’m aware that this advice-giving behavior is a bit of an oxymoron.

Dare

This brings me back to the theme of the TikTok I saw, which struck a deep chord with me. I want to live by it, to the best of my ability:

“Dedicate the next 6 months exclusively to my goals. No announcements, just fall back, and do the work. It’s me versus me this time. Stay in my lane. There is no traffic and no competition. I can do this. Write my goals down, create a vision of where I want to be, and take action. Shut my mouth, don’t talk about it, just let my success be my noise. My mind is a powerful thing. I’ll start using it to my advantage. When I fill it with positivity, my life will change. My time is now, no more excuses. I can’t keep getting mad at people for sucking the life out of me if I keep giving them the straw. It’s time for me to grow.”

Drop the Mic

Doesn’t that just hit? That line—“I can’t keep getting mad at people for sucking the life out of me if I keep giving them the straw”—is the one that needs to be tattooed on my forearm so I can see it every day. Seriously, I might ask one of my daughters to write it on a canvas and hang it up in both of my offices.

I hope my girls are reading this! If so, I need one of those for the house and one for each of my offices. My clients need to hear that too! Now, I need to process and think. Maybe a blog series about this in the future? I’m not sure, but if I do, it’ll be after I’ve spent the next six months focusing on my own goals and staying quiet.

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