Self work takes a long time:

Self work takes a long time.

It takes a long time to understand yourself.

To do the work to figure out your own mind.

Most people never do it.

They don’t have an outlet.

They bottle their emotions and are trapped in their own heads.

Overthinking situations that will never happen.

We all need a healthy release.

For a lot of people, therapy is helpful.

You have someone in front of you who’s non-judgemental and willing to help you through the process of understanding yourself.

Asking difficult questions.

Reframing the way your mind operates.

That’s very helpful.

I found mine through writing.

A lot of this is therapy.

It’s me being honest with myself and the world.

Trying to figure out myself on this journey we call life.

If you can figure out yourself, you can figure out the world.

Understand who you are and you’ll understand the world a lot more.

We’re all riddled with fear and bias about what we think the world is.

It’s not as scary as you imagine.

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To understand though, you either need to experience it or read about it.

Even reading about it won’t tell you what it’s really like.

You have to go through the tough moments yourself.

You have to see how different the world is outside of your bubble.

Once you get out, you realize how small you are.

You don’t matter. Neither do I.

Yet we’re everything.

One of the great paradoxes.

It’s pondering thoughts like these that make you understand yourself a bit more.

You have to ask yourself difficult questions.

You have to spend time alone.

Away from all distractions.

Sitting with your thoughts.

Confronting your demons.

Meditation has also helped me tremendously with that.

You’re forced to stop.

To process the current moment.

Process how you’re really feeling in this specific moment.

Because everything else doesn’t exist.

The past is gone and the future is all in your head.

Most people don’t see the value of meditation.

They can’t sit with their thoughts.

They won’t commit the time and stay disciplined.

Meditation is far from easy.

I’ve been doing it for a few years yet still feel like a beginner.

It’s hard.

It’s hard to constantly return to your breath.

Your brain is running a million miles an hour, like it always is.

You can’t stop that. 

All you can do is be aware.

Remember, your thoughts are just thoughts.

Let them come and go.

Don’t judge them.

Watch them, understand them and let them pass.

Don’t let your past hold you back.

Don’t let your fears stop you.

Listen to the fear and then let it go.

As you do more self-work, you begin to realize how much is in your control.

And how much is not.

Focus on what you can do.

Forget about everything else.

You can’t control how the world will be.

You can’t control how other people will act.

You can’t control what other people will think about you.

None of that is up to you.

But you can control how you act.

You can control how you are with people.

You can control the effort you put in.

You can control how you think.

Happiness is a choice.

You have to choose to do things with your time that make you happy.

You have to learn to dismiss negative thoughts.

Read somewhere that ‘all thoughts you have are put there by others.’

Couldn’t agree more.

What childhood experiences and fears are holding you back from reaching your potential?

What are you scared of?

Why?

We’re all battling demons every day.

But the only person that can get rid of those demons is you.

The secret is you can’t escape them. You have to confront them head on.

You have to do the difficult work.

Sometimes it takes years.

That’s ok.

No one’s cheering for you along the way but at the end of it, you’ll be so grateful you did the work.

Expect it to take longer than you think.

Self work takes a long time.