You cannot climb a ladder if the rungs aren’t close enough nor can you climb it if you look for a magic elevator ride to the top. Nor can you climb it if you become frightened by the height of it or if you worry what happens if you never make it to the top. Nor can you climb it if you’re worried about what the people around you are thinking about your progress. Nor can you climb it if you’re looking at someone else climbing their ladder faster.
Changing your lifestyle-physically and mentally — requires baby steps like the well-spaced rungs of a ladder. It requires understanding that you cannot expect to be where you want to be within a short amount of time as if riding an elevator to the top where your goals are waiting. This means setting small attainable goals and once you reach them, setting more attainable goals. This means not feeling discouraged by how slow you’re moving but finding joy in the smallest improvements. This means not looking for easy outs and magic fixes but instead taking the slow and steady road.
Changing your lifestyle-physically and mentally — requires courage in the face of fear — like climbing the ladder even though you’re scared of heights or not being worried of not making it to the top. This means staying headstrong and showing yourself that your fears are irrational; that you’re stronger than your fears. This means not wondering what happens if your progression doesn’t result in your goals. It means going after your goals regardless.
It requires setting aside all doubt from any of your potential naysayers and not comparing how far onto the ladder you are in comparison to anyone else. This means trusting yourself and tuning anyone out who doubts you. This means staying focused on your goals and your path and not straying simply because someone else is winning differently.
It’s easy to say that the ladder is too big. It’s easy to say that your goals are too farfetched. It’s easy to give up. It’s not easy to cling onto the rungs of the ladder as a gust of wind blows and shakes the foundation, knocking you down a few pegs. It’s not easy to reach for the next rung and let go of the other as in letting go of the past and reaching for your future.
I sat idly by as my mental health and physical health deteriorated. I chugged my elixirs of “medicine (alcohol” I had “therapy sessions” with sugary and greasy foods to appease my happy, chemical hungry brain. I kept “company” to fill the space and have. someone to talk to. Nothing changed until I changed. Until I stopped looking outside of myself for easy fixes and found what I truly needed. It was only then that the ladder of change begun to seem climbable.
It wasn’t until I focused on my mental health that I became happy with my own self without outside help. It wasn’t until I focused on my mental health that I was able to find the strength to finish my divorce. It wasn’t until I focused on my mental health that I was able to find the strength to get my own apartment. And finally, without focusing on my mental health, I would have never had the strength start focusing on my physical health.
I can share my body transformation shots all day long but it’s my cognitive transformation that I’ll preach about all day long — and you can’t take a picture of that. But you’ll notice a shift in your thought process. You’ll no longer feel that everyone is out to get you. You’ll feel a joy in everyday things.
In conclusion, it’s easy to talk about it but it’s never easy to actually jump onto the ladder and hold on for dear life at each rung. The first step is always the hardest but it’s the most necessary piece of your mental reconstruction. Whether that step looks like seeking therapy or writing or giving up toxic habits and company. You have absolutely got this!
