I wish I could be more like the cool kids...

High school was brutal for me. Emotionally. I’m sure it is or was for many people… but there’s a life lesson here that I wish I knew at the time. In high school, I was cute. I had some friends. I had a boyfriend. BUT I was extremely unhappy. I was never really happy during those years. In fact, I was an unhappy person for years after high school… but we’ll dive deeper into that some other time. So how can a I girl, that seemed to have everything going for her… be so unhappy? I was convinced that my life would be better if I was part of the “in crowd”. The super popular kids. The ones that were cheerleaders… always had a party to go to… seemed prettier than me… always seemed to be having more fun than me… I spent most of my mental hours wishing I was more like them. How exhausting is it to spend all your time wishing you were like someone else? You’re basically telling yourself that you are not good enough. That you don’t like yourself. Go away self, I want someone “better”. How much happier I would have been if I had just been ok with myself. Had fun with the friends I DID have. Just enjoyed my younger years without wishing for something that probably would NOT have made me any happier. And it’s not mystery why most people steered clear of me during those times… because I was unhappy! Who wants to be around someone that is not happy with themselves? You send out a vibe that lets everyone know there is something uncomfortable about you. Can you think of times when you compared your life to someone else’s life? I know you can, because we all do it. The problem with this negative thinking is that you’re telling yourself on a daily basis that you’re not good enough. You are suffocating your happiness. It’s time to live in the present, to look around you… and to discover joy in YOUR life right now. No one else can do that for you. Now… don’t get be wrong… I’m not saying give up on your dreams… to stop dreaming… to stop pushing toward your goals. Keep going! But there’s a difference between desiring to be better… to take action toward goals… versus lamenting that you don’t have money like your neighbor and then doing NOTHING about it. It’s good to be uncomfortable because it makes you want to change and grow. But telling yourself you would be so much happier if you just had a nice car like your friend… or if you were thin like Cameron Diaz… or if you had a bigger house…. or if you had more money… That’s a bunch of bull. If you can’t be happy NOW… how are you going to be happy when you reach your destination? And here’s the hard cold truth. If your subconscious believes that you are not good enough… it will do everything it can to sabotage your success… because you are not good enough. Oh yes. It probably already has happened. I know that I’ve had many great successes only to somehow lose it all. Put a stake in the ground! You ARE good enough. You are perfect just as you are. Be happy NOW. When you compare yourself to someone else you are not allowing your true, awesome, authentic self to shine through. Let me tell you… when you finally decide to just be you… so much anxiety goes away. You WILL be a happier person just by accepting who you are right now. So… for today’s challenge… I want you to identify ONE thing you like about yourself. It can be anything… and there is no one around to judge your opinion. Look in the mirror and say OUT LOUD “I am good enough.” Why out loud? Because everything you say… your mind hears. And believes. Your subconscious does not know good thoughts from bad thoughts. It just receives and programs. Jen Thoden