Hello new me! Show them you're fierce!

"Welcome to society. We hope you enjoy your stay. And please feel free to be yourself! As long as it's in the right way. Make sure to love your body, not too much or we'll tear you down. We'll bully you for smiling, and then wonder why you frown? We'll tell you that you're worthless, that you shouldn't make a sound. You can fall in love with anyone, as long a it's who we choose. And we'll let you have your opinions, but please shape them to our views. Welcome to society, we promise that we won't deceive. And one more rule, now that you're here, there's no way you can leave."
-e.h

How many times have you felt like a gerbil in a cage, running around and around on that wheel but never really going anywhere, and never accomplishing anything?
Did you know that everyday you tell yourself lies about who you really are? That you act on those lies? That those lies affect how you treat yourself and the kinds of relationships you have with others?
Did you know that a good bit of your life script was written for you based on decisions made by your parents? Doesn't really sound fair, does it?
You can't fully understand yourself without understanding your family dynamics in which you were raised. Children believe what their parents tell them, "You disgust me!" You're pathetic. You can't do anything right!" "You can't be my kid" "Hey stupid! Don't you know how to listen?!" "I wish you were never born"

Early childhood memories provide the key to unlocking the mystery of why you see things the way that you do, certain things bug you that don't bug others, and why some things comfort you that frighten others. They reveal your unspoken assumptions about the way you think life ought to go... and not go.

Be yourself. If you water yourself down to please people or to fit in, or to not offend anyone, you lose the power, the passion, the freedom and the joy of being uniquely you. It's much easier to love yourself when you are being yourself. It's easy to be wanted for who you are not, Wouldn't you rather be valued for who you are?
See, we think that attention is love, so we become addicted to acting a certain way to get that attention, and that's why we suffer so deeply. You can't change how people feel about you, so don't try. Just live your life and be happy.

For me, the things I find most beautiful about a person are almost never physical.

Its much more difficult to change ourselves. Change doesn't come easy. Can you relate? But could the reason it's so hard to change have something to do with the lies we're telling ourselves ABOUT OURSELVES?
Don't let the lies you're telling yourself hold you back. Today's the day. You're in charge of the new you.
Don't wear a thousand faces all to hide your own. No one is going to love you exactly like how you imagine. No one is ever going to read your mind and take every star from the sky at the perfect time and hand it to you. No one is going to show up at your door on a horse with a shoe you lost. Do you understand? That's why you have to love yourself enough, so that any other love just adds more candles to the cake you've already iced.
Don't be caught between who you are and who you want to be. Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions. Their lives a mimicry. Their passions a quotation.
Save yourself my love, stop waiting for someone to come and rescue you. You are your own. Don't be the person sitting up all night and continuously asking yourself, "When did I become like this?"

If you're feeling frightened about what comes next, don't be. Embrace the uncertainty. Allow it to lead you places. Be brave, as it challenges you to exercise both your heart and your mind, as you create your own path toward happiness; don't waste time with regret. Spin wildly into your next action. Enjoy the present, each moment, as it comes, because you'll never get another one quite like it. And if you should ever look up and find yourself lost, simply take a breath and start over. Retrace your steps and go back to the purest place in your heart... where your hope lives. You'll find your way again.

-Accept the truth about yourself.
-Boost your confidence by identifying the lies that you're telling yourself... and putting them to rest for good;
-Change your life by concentrating on becoming who you really want to be.

"There is nothing more troubling and truly sad than someone relentlessly pursuing someone they are not. These people are everywhere."
-Chritopher Poindexter

You can do anything if you try, and a little pain can bring great gain - for yourself and for your loved ones. You shouldn't let a few road bumps stop you. Believe that there is a better way. With a little pain, comes great gain in the long run.
You see, I think about dying but I don't want to die. Not even close. In fact, my problem is the opposite. I want to live, I want to escape. I feel trapped and bored and claustrophobic. There's so much to do but somehow still find myself doing nothing at all. I'm still here in this metaphorical bubble of existence and I can't quite figure out what the hell I'm doing or how to get out of it. In the depths of hell, I learned who I was. It takes a strong soul to endure so much pain and heartache and still make it out alive; to not get stuck in the deep burning pit of misery. It takes a resilient creature to CLAW their way back up out of the darkness and back into a reality where your nightmares can finally turn into dreams.

I once heard someone say, "If you don't change, you do not grow." But I waved the thought away, for who were they to think that they know? I'd always stayed the same. A heart that thrived within the cold, and I had no desire to change. At least that's what I had been told. But deep within my mind, a thought grew slowly, bit by bit, until I felt trapped in my skin, for it no longer seemed to fit. There's a whole world sitting out there, changing every single day. That proves it's nothing to be scared of, if you do it the right way. For a day afraid to turn to night, will miss the silver moon. And a flower that refuses to change, will never get to bloom. I had thought I was a thorn bush, only good for snagging clothes, but if you do not dare to change, you'll never find out you're a rose."

I want to scare people, I want people to be afraid, because I will be whole all by myself, and I want you to go on that journey with me. So in the 5 days to come, we will be talking about how to change yourself by identifying your true self. Everything will change, and yet, we will be more ourselves than we have ever been. This is my goal. The journey isn't so much about becoming anything. It's about unbecoming everything that isn't really you. So you can be who you were meant to be in the first place. The more you know about who you are and what you want, the less you let things upset you. Life will only change once you become more committed to your dreams than you are to your comfort zone. You can't change how people feel about you, so don't try. Just live your life and be happy.

The lesson is simple. If you want to move to a higher level of life, you have to be willing to let go of some of your old ways of thinking and being, and adopt new ones. The results will eventually speak for themselves.

Stay tuned for more posts to a new you! There will be 5 upcoming posts to help change your perspective of yourself and the world.
Hello 2018!

Certain segments taken from: Have A New You By Friday! By Dr. Kevin Leman.