Life Shouldn’t Feel This Hard

Lately, you’ve forgotten what being you is like.

There was a time when you were lively, funny, and courageous. But that was long ago.

Now, most days, you feel like a flattened, fearful version of yourself.

You desperately want to reconnect with your vibrant, authentic self, but you don’t know how.

Your self-critic runs the show.

Lying awake at night, you pick apart the nuances of every interaction from the previous day.

“Why did you say that stupid thing?”

You used to think your self-critic made you better, but now you’re not so sure.

The constant criticism is taking a toll, and instead of motivating you to change, it keeps you frozen in place.

It’s as though you’ve lost your voice.

You want to speak up for yourself; share your thoughts and feelings with your family, friends, and colleagues.

But for some reason, when you try to say the words out loud, they get caught in your throat.

You suspect this inability may come from some previous painful experience, but you’re not sure where that leaves you.

Something has to change.

Playing by other peoples’ rules, and behaving how you think you should rather than how you want to, is not working.

You have so many goals and desires, but you just can’t find the freedom to speak your truth.

Trying and failing to live up to some hypothetical ideal is only making things worse.