Sometimes, the changes you make in your own life are not nearly as difficult as getting everyone else to accept how your changes will change their life. I'm embarking on a new adventure, and even though it's taking place in my own home, while I sit behind my own computer, there is a downward shift in the amount of laundry, cooking and cleaning that I'm doing. The rest of the family is supposed to pick up the slack. Old habits die hard but no clean underwear jolts them back to their new reality.
Trying to work while my family carries on around me and without me is tough. I get up for a cup of tea and I'm very surprised that no one else notices that the faucets don't sparkle. Does anyone else care that the sink is full of coffee cups, plates and a knife still sticky with peanut butter? Apparently not. And since I've stopped picking up every single thing that they place on the kitchen counter every single time they walk in the house...car keys, mail, the pizza flyer that was hanging on our doorknob, over the counter sinus meds, the latest issues of Rolling Stone and AARP magazine (we're a diverse household), a Netflix movie that should have been returned 2 weeks ago, an empty gum pack and an empty Starbucks cup...it's beginning to look like a prop house for a bad sitcom.
The Type A voice that's locked inside of me is white knuckled and frantically banging on my brain with clenched fists. "Pick up the clutter, wipe down the counters and polish the faucets!" But that voice that puts my compulsive behavior on overdrive is drowned out by another voice that we all carry within us. It's the one that whispers "You can't!" over and over and over again when we step outside of our comfort zone and strive for bigger, better and not so easily attainable dreams. These two voices are competing for my attention.
I know that the little voice that says "you can't" can be silenced. I also know how hard it is. The voice is part of our survival instinct. It yells when we're too close to the rocky ledge and it persistently murmurs and whispers "stop" when we try to make changes in our life. That little voice loves the status quo. But, we've got the edge.
The voice may be pesky and repetitive but it's not smart enough to know that some risks are worthwhile. We're the ones who are smart enough to know when to take meaningful risks and it never hurts to remind ourselves of that every day. It's no secret that I'm a big fan of repeating positive thoughts so we can banish the negative. I've been on a status quo life path for quite some time so I know it's going to take a while to shut down the negative voice that tells me that I can't accomplish my goals. Some days I manage to take little steps and others day I make great big strides but I am expanding the boundaries of my life. My actions are proving that little voice wrong. I can do this.
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