Rise Up

Dress: Vestique, Shoes: Jessica Simpson, Purse: Aldo, Ring: Levian, Earrings and Necklace: Kendra Scott

I saw this post on Instagram early this morning and I took a screenshot of it to save to my phone.

Perhaps it's nothing earth-shattering, and I am sure you've heard some version of it before, but I thought it was beautiful and powerful, and a reminder worth sharing.

Here's the quote:

"You can rise up from anything. You can completely recreate yourself. Nothing is permanent. You're not stuck. You have choices. You can think new thoughts. You can learn something new. You can create new habits. All that matters today is that you decide and never look back. "

I must have read that four times.
I repeated it like an affirmation.
A mantra.
I wanted to let that shit sink in.
Marinate.
Become part of my insides. 

"You can rise up from anything." 

That is SO INCREDIBLY ENCOURAGING. Right?? I mean... how many times has life kicked you in the face? How many times has your heart been broken, you've been scared, you've experienced something that you thought you could never come back from, but HOT DAMN... here you are. I just love it.
"You can rise up from anything." YASSSS HUNTY. YES YOU CAN.

"You can completely recreate yourself." 

SHIT YES. I love when people evolve and change. When they get interested in new things, DO new things, TALK about new things, TRY new things, LEARN new things, SHARE new things. Drop dead things, plant new. Those are my favorite people. They are so interesting. It doesn't have to be anything big, even. But, I would never want to look back on a decade of my life and realized that I had not brought anything new into it. THAT is like being dead while you are still alive. AMIRIGHT?!?

"You have choices. You can think new thoughts." 
Some situations that we get ourselves into, or that happen "to us" make us feel as if we don't have any choice in the matter. You get sick? Well, hell, you can't usually choose NOT to be sick. You get dumped. You can't necessarily "choose" not to be single. You get passed over for a job, etc, etc. Making a new choice doesn't magically make the reality change... BUT... "You can think new thoughts." THAT IS THE GOLDEN TICKET, MAN!!!!

Think new thoughts. Instead of scarcity and lack... shift to thoughts of abundance, opportunity, openness. Remind yourself that things never make sense until we look back on them. Being broke is hard, being lonely, sad, heartbroken, shaken to your core by a catastrophic life event... all HARD AF! However... there is SO much power in framing and controlling your own thoughts. I'm not trying to make it sound easy, but what if... before you opened your mouth up to complain (or bitch) about something you simply reframed it? Instead of saying "I'm so lonely. I hate being single. " try "I feel incredibly fortunate to have time to develop who I am becoming so I can then attract someone who compliments my very best self." I know that might sound hippy-dippy, but there is real power in that shit. Your thoughts control your life. What you say to yourself and others shapes your reality. It's worth trying to change the thoughts in your head and the words that leave your mouth.

"You can create new habits." 
Thank GAWD for this. Breaking old habits is SO difficult, but it is not impossible. Do you still smoke? For the love of all things holy... maybe you should work REALLY HARD on quitting. News flash: That shit will kill you, and normally it's not quick and painless. Do you eat like shit and then feel bad about it, telling yourself you will "start Monday"? Take a good, hard, raw AF, vulnerable look at WHY???? I know food is good. I love it. Like... a lot. You don't like food more than anyone else. I promise.  I am obsessed. A foodie to my absolute CORE and I battle with it - because it's always been there for me and I loooove it.  BUT.... I know that NORMALLY we don't feed ourselves to the point of obesity because food tastes good. We are usually feeding fear, loneliness, pain, trauma, bordem, anxiety, or some old shit that we have not worked through.  Create a new habit, man. 

Imagine the life you want to live and get really honest about what kind of choices THAT person would make. Then... start, little by little, or like a bulldozer... (I'm a steam engine kind of woman)... start working on them. You KNOW what to do. You know HOW to get there. You just need new habits.

Start now, because as we all know... that proverbial "MONDAY" never comes.

**Also... post-script disclaimer: I do not fancy myself some sort of life guru who has it all figured out. If you haven't noticed by now, in most of these blog posts I'm simply writing out what I need to hear. **

So... one more time. Let it sink in:

"You can rise up from anything. You can completely recreate yourself. Nothing is permanent. You're not stuck. You have choices. You can think new thoughts. You can learn something new. You can create new habits. All that matters today is that you decide and never look back. "

XO - Mel