“One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again; fear must be overcome again and again.” – Abraham Maslow
“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.” – Amelia Earhart
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” – Maya Angelou
The quotes are relevant to my journey of growth. Growing up in a home with mental illness, a child discovers their own norms. These may or may not match the norms of their peers. Those norms are only discovered at school age. Every situation is unique because we are all unique. Yes, there may be things in common, but we were not created to be like anyone else. The culture teaches us what is expected and accepted. Our choice here is whether we want to be part of it. Sometimes, we do not realize why we do not fit. It comes from a choice.
I chose the title to symbolize a life as a small circle. Within that small circle are all our inherited traits and our environmental influences. Our extended family could be represented as a nickel, our culture as a quarter and the world as a half-dollar. Not moving off the dime in centuries past did not have the consequences as of today. Some folks are more than content to maintain, an even fight for, their quiet and smaller circles. Nothing wrong with that. They need to make sure of the level of contentment and joy. The key is self-contentment and self-acceptance. Only if one is uncomfortable and has that intuitive feeling of a need for more or a need for change.
I have learned and lived so much in worlds of drama. If you find yourself always struggling with other persons around you; if you find yourself fighting tears; if you find your rage on the tip of erupting more than you like; if you find your thoughts race from one topic to another; if you find syourself intensely worrying about your relationships; if you find yourself insistent on others liking you; and, if you find yourself feeling a big hole in your heart or gut, you might want to consider your choices.
Sometimes, nearly all the time, it takes someone to help us look at our choices. Did you know when you choose, you determine a change? Our thoughts control our behavior. When we make alternate choices other than our life habit (usual) choices, our behavior adjusts. We can control what that adjustment is. You first decide that you want to change an interaction. You decide what you want that interaction to be. Make the decision, write it down, practice it, make it the new habit, then act on it through changed behavior.
Of course, it is work, hard work, and constant work until the behavior/interaction becomes a habit. But, from this center of the dime, it is so-o-o-o-o-o worth it. Self-love and acceptance is not over-rated! You find your moment-by-moment joy!