Detox; Detoxification - (n) a process or period of time in which one abstains from or rids the body of toxic or unhealthy substances.
It's AUGUST. And yea, the year is almost up. And I'm looking back on my goals for 2015, and I'm a little sad. Not because I didn't reach all of my goals that I wanted to at this point, but because somewhere along the way, I lost the will to even try. And I'm sure many of you feel the same way in some way or the other.
I like to keep telling myself that it's not 100% my fault. Life, per usual, "gets in the way". Work gets real, home gets real, and those wide-eyed dreams that were planned out last Christmas have almost, if not already, disappeared.
You ever get that feeling that somethings would be A LOT easier if certain...roadblocks...weren't in your way?
Personally, I wanted to start they year off running again and training for a half marathon. I wanted to launch my blog and have like 1000 followers by now. I wanted to give up eating junk food-kind of. Okay, eat junk food in moderation. I wanted to increase my spiritual relationship with God by reading the bible everyday and praying more frequently. I want to do a lot of things.
Actually, I want to do it all. Except, there's just too much junk getting in the way. To the point were I know if I don't prioritize what's important, I'm never going to be successful in my own right. That's were my life detox comes in, to remove all of the nonsense that lingers in my life. I may not smoke or drink, but I do have some toxic or unhealthy substances in my life. If I got rid of these, it would make me feel 100% better and more motivated to reach the goals I've been trying to reach since 2013. The basics pretty much looks like this:
Perfectionism - Forget money. PERFECTIONISM is the root to all evil. It's bad enough that there are "standards" set in place by people to JUDGE people who are just as imperfect as everyone else-telling us that we need to LOOK like this or that to be acceptable, but those standards trickle down into everything we do. I cannot tell you how many blogs I've read that give you lists and steps of things to do in order to start the perfect blog. When what they really want to say is "I completely lucked out on this post that made me super popular." SO they give a list of things to do to get like them. If only following this perfect little formula will help us get to where we need to get in life...
Procrastination. With perfectionism comes procrastination. Instead of diving in, splashing around to see if we can make it to the other side, we dip a toe in and when the water isn't perfect enough, which it never is, we wait. When really, it's more like we're afraid that we'll discover we can't swim and drown. But we use the temperature of the water to keep us from going for it. (Oh, that's just me? *side eye*)
Comparison. There is no getting around this one. Comparison is one of the reasons why I'm a perfectionist. Everytime I get on the internet I see "everyone" doing what I love or want, and doing it perfect-ly. I only want to experience the same joy in my life as they do. Except I know, everybody's story is different and everyone's experience will get them to different places in life. I'm not here to be the next girl on the internet, I'm here to be Kelechi. So, although it is a struggle, I have to remind myself everyday that God gave me calling that is unique to me. Whether I figure it out right away or it takes a minute, I know mine will be unique because everyone's call is not the same. Sure, there are millions of women on the internet, but not everyone is saying the exact same thing as me and if they are, well...let me know. Maybe we can collaborate lol.
Excess Distractions. I love Netflix and it's equivalent services. But that's me wasting my time watching other people live out their dreams. My dad always says "You can pay now and play later or play now and pay for it later." Successful people relax when they've accomplished their goals. So until I get to where I want to go, maybe I shouldn't chill TOO much. Because that #boss chic over there is burning the midnight oil and when I finally wake up, she'll already be on to the next project. Not comparing myself or anything :-)
Working too much. When you have a job aside from your dreams, you get comfortable. It's a steady income. I got comfortable-or used to-working extra days in the pharmacy because it is familiar. I know what to expect in the pharmacy. I know who's going to be there and what's probably bound to happen. That's comfortable for me, even though I hate it, I hate it, I hate it. At least I know it. But THIS right here? Running a blog, training for marathons, giving up junk food, shutting down netflix and networking, & etc is all new and different. And I don't know anything or anybody in this set, so yeah, tendency to gravitate towards comfort takes over more often than it should.
These are just a few toxic substances I need OUT of my life. We are almost 3/4 of the way through the year and ain't nobody got time for that. I don't want to look back on my life this year or the next and say "well, maybe next time". I'd rather say, "Oops, oh well. Let's go again." Honestly. I'm tired of regretting. I'm tired of being the spectator when I really want to play. So this month, I'm doing this life-detox and dropping all these bad habits and more to make room for new ones, like discipline, consistency, and blind ambition.
What about you? What toxic substances do you need to DETOX from your life in order to move forward? Let's help each other!
-B-