The key to living the life you want is learning how to love yourself unconditionally by letting go of judgment and embracing your current state of your evolution. So I say, quit the comparison game, because your path is your own.
For many of us, the idea of being judged is enough to make us hesitate, and even freeze before making our own choices. You may have chosen a career that doesn’t align with what society deems “successful”, or maybe you’re not married and don’t have children yet. Regardless of what it is, there are people in this world who will judge you for your decisions and compare your life to the life they think you should be living. It’s easy to let these judgments affect how we live. In turn, we too have to be careful not to fall into the trap of comparing our lives to others.
In my own life, I find that letting go of judgment is easier to do when it comes to other people. I have no problem detaching from others and how they live their lives as long as it doesn’t negatively impact my own. It’s harder when it’s a judgement I make about myself or those closest to me. Still, if I am having a conversation with a friend, and they make a choice that is different from my own, I have to remind myself that their path is their own and not mine.
Regarding my own journey with self-judgement, the moment I dropped the judgment & acknowledged the fact that I had habits and programming, and even a mindset that was passed down to me, and it was one of many options available to me,is when I felt a sense of relief and empowerment. I felt, once again, that I had the power to direct my life in the way I wanted. It’s still a challenge sometimes, but as long as I view myself as a work-in-progress, I will continue to evolve.
Here are a few things I do daily to help me stop self-judgment:
- Worrying. Spend less time worrying – if you’ve identified yourself as a worrier, time block a part of your day (10mins) to worrying. Allow yourself that space to worry but then when that time is over, move on.
- Creating. Spend more time creating the life you want – a simple way to set your day up so you stay on track is to spend 5-10mins every morning and every evening being grateful for the life you have and the life that you’re being prepared for. If you’re really into this, you can eventually create your own “hour of power.”
- Releasing. By letting go of the things you can’t change (i.e. the way other people perceive you), you free yourself from trying to carry something that was never your burden to bear.
Today, you can choose to live your life with less worry and more freedom. You no longer have to be the person that is constantly worried about what could go wrong or judging others and yourself for mistakes. Start letting go of judgments in order to free up space to think about all the different possibilities ahead of you. Be open-minded enough not only to approach new opportunities but also accept that there are some things we just don’t know how they’ll turn out until we’ve tried them ourselves. You deserve a happy and free mind by letting go! What areas have you been able to release judgment on today?