You need not stay the same.
You have permission to grow, to change, to shed belief systems and lessons and memories that no longer work for you.
You have permission to examine what you’ve been taught—or the things you’ve learned that no one was consciously teaching you. Those seem, in my experience, to be most important, actually.
You are the one and only tenant of your mind, your heart, and your body. You live in your being all the time, so you not only have the authority to evict ideas that aren’t serving you, you have a responsibility to do so.
Fair warning: some ideas put up a hell of a fight.
Have you ever orchestrated a big move? I’m talking a literal move from one home to another. I’ve moved every few years as an adult, and every time I feel a little like an archeologist unearthing artifacts from events I’ve nearly forgotten over the course of my time in that home. Every time, there are items I need to give away, or throw away, or at the very least reorganize before moving on to a new place.
It’s kind of like that—only some of your ideas have lived with you since you were a child, so unearthing them can take some time, and getting rid of them can be hard. Some try to sneak back in, and others—even when you know it’s time to let them go—might hurt a bit to release. Keep going.
Beliefs that have lived in your being for years have made themselves at home there; they’ve embedded themselves in your views of the world, of yourself, your God, your future, and your past. Sometimes they go quietly, but sometimes it feels like having a piece of yourself ripped out—because sometimes that’s exactly what is happening.
You’re very resilient, it turns out, and as you extract the ideas that need to go, you’ll heal.
You are also free to be completely yourself in a new season.
You have permission to be completely you in a new place, or a new role.
As you move into a season of new work, new schooling, new relationships, new singledom, new parenthood, you have permission to make your own way. You do not need to replicate the lives or identities of those you’ve seen go before.
The world needs you in the roles you fulfill. There might be a bit of fumbling as you walk a new path. You might find yourself unable to see too far ahead at the start. Keep going.
– LL
Christmas Movies. Yes. Already.
A friend recommended these in lieu of “good Fall TV,” and you know what friends…. she was right. Lean in.
Maisie Lane Co. Journals
These are beautiful, customized, and make whatever you wish to write down feel held in time. If you’re a bullet journal fan, a moleskin fan, or just a “really good paper” fan, take a look.