The title of this brief piece is called "Run Free", and it may be a bit confusing. Once we hit the age of twenty-one (and for some of us, a lot younger), we're thrown into a world of responsibilities. A world where nothing is really free. Managing adulthood never goes away, and often becomes harder as we age. So if you think this blog is going to tell you to forget everything and go off wildly without a care in the world, you're wrong.
A lot of the problems in our lives are solved by facing things. Admitting we were wrong. Starting over. Accepting a painful lesson. But the next actionable step in that learning and healing process, is to be free of it. To train ourselves to unlearn the things we've been told by the wrong influences. To let go of feeling not good enough, or not attractive enough, or not successful enough. To let go of thinking that the path we once thought was perfect, was the only way we could go. It's a hard notion, and a daily struggle, but it must be done, for the sake of your happiness.
When we start to forgive ourselves and stop insulting ourselves, the weight of our anxiety can sometimes tumble right off of our chest. When we become truly happy with who we are, we will then attract other positive things and positive people into our orbit, which continues to reinforce all the good that's inside us. I'm not saying to be blameless or complacent, because honesty and self-work is another part of healing. But we have to accept that we can't have everything perfectly in the exact times and ways that we want them. That's not what life is.
Once we get over the things that we were wrong about and the things that we don't currently have, we can feel better with the freedom that we do have. The freedom to move on, and try new things, and connect with new people, and cultivate our relationships. The freedom to love yourself, and recognize your blessings. The freedom to run weightless into your next adventure and to know that life has taught you that you're going to be okay. You will make mistakes, you will doubt yourself, you will have bad days. But you will get through them. It's all going to be okay. Keep running.
