Take Charge of Your Life
by Maria Khalifé
“When you take charge of your life, there is no longer need to ask permission of other people or society at large. When you ask permission, you give someone veto power over your life.” ~ Albert F. Geoffrey
As we move into our adult lives, we form assumptions about “how it ought to be.” Sometimes, these decisions are based on the pressures of society; sometimes, on the input from our friends and family. And sometimes, our decisions push us so severely that we end up with way too much on our plates. We end up as a passenger who’s just along for the wild ride, when we should be driving our lives from only our own decisions. It’s time to take charge of your life.
We live in an extremely fast-paced world. We jump out of our beds in the morning, rush through our early routine, rush off to work, jamb as much into our days so we’re seen as productive, and then rush home to continue rushing through our home and family tasks. We can maintain this pace for a long time, but at some point, it all becomes overwhelming and just plain exhausting. It makes winding down at the end of the day without any sense of pleasure at all.
Perhaps now is the time when you slow to pace yourself and say “Now wait just a minute! My life is way too busy and getting out of control. Let’s take a look at how I make decisions and see which ones I can truly set aside.”
You need to come to a full stop so that you can analyze your life and what you’ve been doing without thinking too much about it, and just going along. You ought to consider how much you truly want to do the activities you’re caught up in. You can take a look at who is being pleased by your decisions – you, or someone else, like a parent, for example? Are you truly happy with your life, your schedule, your activities? Are you in the driver’s seat or have you slid over into the passenger side of the car and are just along for the ride, despite the cost to you? Do you want to take charge of your life?
Charting your own course in life requires that the decision-making process be all of your own. You are the one’s ultimately responsible, so you are the one who gets to make all of the decisions. Your decisions might not be the same as the ones that would make your family and friends happy, but you are not here to make others happy: you do take them into consideration, but it’s your own wishes, wants, and desires that are the most important. You might run into some interference from your family and friends if your decisions don’t go the old way, or the way they’d prefer. Be prepared to stand your ground and vote for your Self. There may be a time of temporary discomfort where it’s difficult to talk with them about the subject, but that will fade and they may never understand your decisions, but you will be happy. I think it’s much better to suffer a bit of temporary discomfort than to live your entire life according to another’s desires, don’t you?
When you analyze your life, you may find that many of the pieces in the picture of your life are happy ones that can remain as is. Or you may see that you’ve been really busy doing things that please others but don’t leave you enough time to be with your family, pursue your hobbies, or be free to just vegetate.
So, just pull your car (your life) off the road for a rest (pace yourself) under a shady tree and in the quiet of reflection, get back in touch with who you truly are and what you truly want. Once you accomplish this analysis, you can climb back into the driver’s seat and confidently take charge of your life.
Take Action Now
1. I will examine my decisions and see if they make ME happy.
2. If I need to explain my new decisions to another, I will summon up the courage to do so.
3. I will live my life from this point forward from the driver’s seat of my life.
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