It is so fucking hard to level your shit up, when the people around you like or, rather, benefit from the version of you that you were.

So, when you want to start thinking positive thoughts and cultivating that deep optimism within yourself, you might actually get a lot of backlash from people around you.

Because if they are used to bitching and gossiping with you, and you “suddenly” turn around and say, “No, I don’t want to be that person any more,” they’re going to get bloody pissed.

You’re robbing them of a part of you that’s been doing emotional processing for free, keeping them from having to do it themselves. 

And it can really hold you back.

Removing yourself from that situation is a piece of advice that I often hear, but that’s shouldn’t be the standard for what’s possible.

These people who are in your life are often times not going to go anywhere – because you work with them, because you live with them, because you’re related to them, because you’re involved with them on some level – and what I’ve pushed myself in the past to do, is to take keeping my own integrity in that situation as a challenge.

Because that’s what it’s about in the end.

It’s not the world’s job to draw your boundaries for you, that’s on you. And those situations are wonderful opportunities to challenge yourself to hang on to what’s true for you, even in the face of differing opinions.

Plus, you don’t have to join other people in their little pity parties. They’re allowed to have them, but you’re not required to join in or to be the one they outsource their emotional labour to.

It’s fucking hard, but it can be done.

And when you’re not around those people bringing you down, seek out those who have the same habits and mindsets you wish you were surrounded with instead. 

You deserve to have people around you that inspire you.

Take time for yourself to take care of you.

Break out the vibrator and have a wank. Eat something delicious. Listen to a song you love. Watch a comfort show.

You do you until you’re ready to go back and deal with the naysayers.

On that note: nobody likes to be told they deserve better.

But you do deserve better.

Seriously, nobody likes to be told they deserve better because it means acknowledging that they have to change.

It means coming face-to-face with the fact that you’ve been neglecting doing the thing you really want to do, to your own detriment, I might add.

But you are allowed to break up with people, break up with things, break up with habits, break up with thinking patterns that no longer serve you.

That are no longer enough for you.

Give yourself that permission.

Because you don’t want to be one of those people who stay in a state of not-doing the thing you really want to.

The only reason you don’t want to change is that you’re afraid. You’re afraid of the unknown, you’re afraid of what it might look like if that thing you really want to do is real.

Creating your life minute by minute, day by day, year by year, is one of the most creative things you can do in your life.

Make yourself.

If you don’t make yourself, you’re more inclined to bow to the desires of others. Leaving you to live a life lesser than what you have the potential to live.

Don’t allow that to happen.

Do the thing. Stop doing the other thing.

Life is short and you only get one.


Want to get more out of reading books?

Grab this FREE guide on how to start a reading journal, complete with review templates, reading trackers and bingo sheets.

Understand yourself better as a reader, engage more with the books you read & make space for creative self-expression. Get it now!

When Sasha Barrett gets bitten by a snake on a mission, her squad captain’s quick actions not only save her life, but also make her realise something she may have known all along…

Get the FREE short story here! 🎉