You Are Free to Live Your Own Life Now

Look at how free this man is. He’s not even thinking about bills he has to pay.

It’s the start of a new month.

But December, for many people, is a stressful month.

Why is that?

There is so much expectation.

Go there. Do this. Be this way for this person you don’t even like.

It’s enough to drive anyone bonkers.

But I have good news for you.

It doesn’t have to be that way.

You set the standard for your own life.

Yes, you don’t want to act like a jerk. You don’t want to disregard other people’s precious feelings.

But you do get to determine what is important to you.

Personally, I’ve found that I’m least happy when I have little control over my own life.

The good news?

This is often all in my head — it’s more about perceiving that I don’t have any control than actually not having any control.

What do I mean by that?

I mean that it’s not the event, person, or situation that makes me unhappy. It’s how I perceive it — how I think and feel about it that makes all the difference.

This is where you come in.

This is where you get to step back into your life and take the steering wheel.

You may not always get to control what others do, or what they tell you to do, or what they tell others to tell you to do.

BUT, and this is a big BUT, you get to control your response.

You get to control your thoughts, feelings, and actions.

Someone yell at you?

You don’t have to yell back.

You can politely nod and walk away.

Someone tell you to do something you don’t want to do?

You don’t have to fall into an old pattern that you know doesn’t work.

You can take a breath and say something you’ve never said before.

New actions take you down new paths.

You have options.

You have the ability to mold your own path in life.

Don’t forget that.

And don’t let others forget that either.

Welcome to a new month. I know it’s not always easy, but we’ll get through this together. If this issue helped you, share it with someone else who could benefit from it.

I hope you have a great December,

Jordan

P.S. Have you followed The Mental Health Update on Facebook? I’m thinking about doing some Facebook Live events in the future. Do you like that idea? Reply and let me know!

This is the latest issue from my new mental health project, a daily mental health newsletter called The Mental Health Update.