In my last newsletter, I promised to talk about how you can truly feel good about yourself.
Here is one of the best pieces of advice I can give you:
STOP RUNNING AWAY FROM YOURSELF.
That’s it. (Yes, it’s that important that it’s in big, bold red capitals.)
If you can stop running away from who you really are and from the reality of your life – your reality in this moment – and start from where you are right now, you will be more powerful in your life. You can only move forward from what’s true for you in this moment. When you deny your reality, you disempower yourself.
How do we run away from ourselves?
Oh, yes, I say “we”. I spent years running away from myself without realizing that that was what I was doing. My big clue should have been that things just weren’t working out in my life. No matter what I did, I always felt that I was struggling. Struggling to make things happen, struggling to create the life I wanted. Can you relate?
Like me, you might not be aware that you’re running away from yourself. So how can you tell? What are the signs? Being unhappy. Not liking yourself. Not being able to relax and be comfortable in your own skin. Comparing yourself to others and always coming out on the short end of the stick.
How you run away from yourself: Overeating, drinking too much, spending too much, worrying too much about other people’s opinions, exercising too much, watching too much television, spending too much time playing video games or on Facebook or overworking while your bigger priorities are on hold.
Notice the pattern here? Too much. Doing something too much/too often and ignoring the rest of your life.
Running away from yourself is all about distracting yourself. So you don’t have to feel your pain. But you have to feel your pain if you’re going to save your life.
How can you feel good about yourself when you’re running away from yourself? It takes courage, sweat and energy to stop running and be present for your actual life. And a huge dose of self-compassion. Don’t be mistaken – self-compassion is not for the faint of heart.
Do you rush ahead to try to change things because it’s too uncomfortable to just be present? It’s scary to acknowledge and feel our pain. Why? Because we judge ourselves for it. Instead of seeing our pain or anger or frustration as a message and listening to the wisdom that’s here for us in the present, we tell ourselves that we’re bad or wrong or a loser because we’re suffering.
We often don’t know what to do to get out of our pain to have the life that we dream about – a life of joy, meaning and connection. That is why I do the work I do. I am committed to working with my clients to free themselves of whatever is blocking them from living their dream life. Whatever that means for them.
So stop running away from yourself and face your reality. Start from where you are if you want to create a more magnificent life for yourself. It’s OK. There’s no rush. Your only job is to be the BEST YOU you can be. The world is waiting.
NEW FEATURE: I will be adding a new section to my newsletter: ASK ANNE. Each newsletter I’ll be choosing a question to answer from one of my readers about what’s blocking you from creating the life and relationships you want. (You will always be anonymous.) So send in any questions you have using this link (https://coachinginanutshell.com/askanne.html) and I will respond to as many as possible in upcoming newsletters.