Some yes, some no.
Some smaller goals I am achieving, but the bigger ones, the more life-changing ones require big sacrifices that I am not yet ready for.
I try to set smaller, achievable goals when ever possible, to still get a sense of achievement. This really has helped my motivation when things seemed slow.
I think that it does not, at least thats the logic of it. In reality though, its very difficult to actually feel that it doesnt.
We lived too large of a portion of our lives being taught to care about what others think, that when we finally want to let that go, its very difficult.
That is my experience.
I think they are equally important.
Some could argue that if you have not been loved, how can you know to love others yourself?
Others could also argue that if you are not capable of loving others, how can others love you?
Both could be correct, it is a matter of perspective.
I believe, though, that they are equally important.
The love we receive from others can teach us how to love ourselves and how to return that love to others.
Negative experiences in our lives can have an impact on our emotions. When we do not feel loved, it can be difficult for us to show love to others. In contrast though, when we feel confident and we feel very loved, it is much easier for us to return that love, and to make others feel as we do.
I try to imagine myself in another story. I allow myself to get lost in it and explore it.
While in general I may have negative thoughts throughout the day, before bed, I believe I rarely do. But not because they are not there. They are. It's because I fill my mind with what makes me calmer, and that is the stories I imagine.
It could be anything from traveling to someplace and meeting people, to more complex stories.
People may say that this normally could prevent them from falling asleep, but I find that it actually helps me fall asleep as I can easily get lost in the story and in my imagination. It helps keep my mind occupied with what I choose, rather than letting negative thoughts fill it up uncontrollably.
I think that I initially have an automatic response to say no, or to just deny whatever it is being said, especially if it goes against what I think.
This is just the immediate initial response I have. Fortunately, I have been working on this and, while it's still not perfect and I still have that initial response, I am able to immediately notice that I have done it again, and to quickly correct myself and to explore whatever is being said.
I used to stress about things that were out of my control all the time. To some extent, I still do.
It used to be really bad in the past, to the point where I just couldn't stop thinking about things, and could not let them go. It would negatively impact my life in many ways.
I think that I managed to slowly get more control over myself and my mind, so I am much better at letting things go, which means that I don't think about things obsessively or let them take control of my life by completely stressing me out.
Of course, its not perfect now, there are still times where I find myself stuck in a sort of loop of thoughts about things that happened or that I fear will happen, or that I want to be different. These things may sometimes not have anything to do with me, but I will still have them stuck on my mind.
Sometimes I can let these thoughts go by stopping and taking some deep breaths, other times though this doesn't work, and I need some sort of distraction to take my mind of things.
Part of me would say people, but there are definitely times that I would just love to be as far away from people as possible, so that cant really be the answer.
I would say experiences would be the best answer for me. If life doesn't have new experiences, both good and bad, then it gets stale, boring, predictable, and just not exciting or fun.
Not as far as I can think of, unfortunately.
Kind of feels like time not well spent.
I am excited for what the future can be.
I just need to find the way to make that future a reality, rather than just always being something that could be in the future.
I want to be able to live the life I aim for, and for that I need to better understand myself, and then courage to be true to that understanding and to what I believe in and feel. Those are my goal.
