You Do YOU
Have you ever been triggered when someone told that you “should do X,” because everyone’s doing it? Or told that you “need to do Y,” because studies show that it will help you in such way? And while we love and appreciate our friends and family for looking out for us and giving us some great advice that worked for them or others, are they almost doing a DISservice by constantly reminding us what we should be doing? It can be hard to deal with nagging sometimes. Of course those who do it are coming from a loving place, but here’s the thing…
YOU are COMPLETELY in charge of who you want to be, and how you want to live your life. You are in control of your choices, and NO ONE else dictates who you should be, or what you should do.
Let me share a little story. The latest to-do that everyone suggests for me is regular meditation. “Just do 5 minutes a day, Apryl. All the most successful people in the world do it!” “Come on, Apryl, you need to slow down and connect with your body! What’s the big deal? It’s just five minutes a day!”
How I internally interpret this is: “Apryl, you’re not going to be successful if you don’t meditate. Apryl, you aren’t spiritual if you don’t meditate.” And I know that’s not what they are intending, but instead of trying to help me, it’s causing more stress and pain.
Yes, I am a super busy person, and yes, meditation could be helpful to me. Don’t get me wrong, I am an absolute ADVOCATE for centering and meditation, and it’s the thing I go to when my stress levels are high. BUT, instilling a regular practice of meditation is not in the cards for me right now. To add 5 minutes a day to my schedule would cause me to have to adjust in other areas that I don’t want to change. I am content with my life the way it is right now.
What people don’t know is that I’ve been working tirelessly to manage my stress the last couple years, and it’s not meditation, but what I’m doing right now is working for me. When it doesn’t, then I’ll make changes. But for now, I just want to celebrate my successes, rather than beat myself up and feel wrong for not doing what everyone else says will bring me “success” or “less stress.” Maybe down the road, meditation will become a regular practice for me, who knows? But today is not that day.
So, my message to you is to know that there are multiple ways to do things that will accomplish the same result, and YOU know best what that is for you. So I strongly encourage this message: YOU DO YOU.
