When was the last time you got dressed up for a date or an outing? Do you remember how many times you changed your mind about what you were going to wear? Or how you were going to do your hair? You might have had the perfect outfit in mind all week and when the time came to get dressed you had your whole closet on the bed looking for something else to wear. It might be a bit of a stereotype that women change their minds a lot, but it is something all humans are allowed to do.
Maya Angelou told us to “do the best with what you know, and when you know better, do better.” Think about the changes that have happened over time because someone chose to change their mind. Someone said, there has to be a faster way to get from place to place, so they began looking for an alternative to horse-drawn carriages. Someone chose to stop accepting joint pain as a symptom of old age and created joint replacements. Someone chose to reach for a faster communication solution than the pony-express and now we have the capability to send not just words, but videos in seconds. Just like we have seen improvements in medicine, automobiles, electricity, and technology, we see that every aspect of life is in constant evolution. The opinions you have are allowed to change too.
A part of your growth may include changing an opinion that you once held tightly to. For instance, if you grew up in a Chevy family, but your favorite vehicle as an adult is a Ford-your once tightly held opinions of Cheverlotte might change. Or maybe a gluten-free diet is a “fad” and doesn’t actually make a difference in how you feel. Only to find out that your bloat and joint pain improves when you stop eating gluten and you change your opinion. Maybe it is the story you’ve told yourself for years about how you’re “not a runner” and after a “couch to 5k challenge”, you now enjoy running 5 miles a day.
Maybe that change comes when you realize that personal growth and development are not a waste of time. It is not just for people who “have nothing better to do” or people who are “hippies” but for everyone who is looking to improve their overall wellbeing.
We are so quick to judge ourselves or those around us when we allow ourselves to remain stuck because of an opinion we formerly held. Be mindful of this. Make sure that any opinion keeping you stuck is truly your own and not a belief system you adopted because of your family, your job, or your immediate friends.
How do you know if an opinion is keeping you from growing? Well, it usually looks like this. You have a problem, someone mentions a potential solution, and your knee-jerk answer is something like, “that won’t work” or “I don’t believe in that” or something along those lines. I’ll give you an example from my own life. When I first started my holistic journey towards healing my endometriosis pain, my ND suggested I go gluten-free and dairy-free. For months I resisted. I kept telling her, “I’ll think about it, but what other suggestions do you have.” Eventually, she made me a deal. She said, “Tell you what, cut it out of your diet for 6 weeks. You can do anything for 6 weeks. Then reintroduce them both. If you don’t feel a difference when you’re not consuming them, or you can’t tell a difference if/when you reintroduce them, then you can walk into my office and tell me I’m wrong.” Admittedly, it was my desire to prove her wrong that convinced me to give it a try… turns out she was right. Gluten is a bigger trigger for pain and other uncomfortable symptoms than dairy, but both affect my body in noticeable ways. Just like that my opinion had changed. Not only was I able to better understand people who had the same experience, but I was better able to recognize that the food we eat affects so much more than just feeling full or hungry.
Did it make me a hypocrite or a liar for changing my opinion? No. I had gained new information and with that knowledge, my thought patterns changed. There is no judgment there, it was just a part of my growth journey; a part of my evolution.
Give yourself some grace as you begin to open your heart and your mind to changes as you evolve. Know it is okay to form different thoughts and opinions based on new information. It is okay to release old belief systems that no longer feel right for you. It is okay to grow.
If you’re ready for some guidance as you do so, let’s find a time to chat so we can work together to help you find the best pathway to your best self. Book a call with me HERE and we’ll make a plan that works just for you!
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