I can always tell when my spirit’s misaligned. My overall sense of passion reaches an all-time low. I’m disconnected from myself and others. My energy wilts like a dying orchid. And then I am usually met with a series of hopeless dead ends despite my every effort to pursue one particular path.

It’s taken many years for me to recognize the symptoms of a depleting soul before they get the best of me. I witness these same symptoms in my friends and relatives all the time. But for whatever reason, we choose to keep ourselves trapped in these torturous cycles simply because they become so familiar to us that the only thing scarier than remaining trapped would be to break away into the unknown. How messed up is that? We remain stuck because our fear of change outweighs the risk of perpetual misery.

Let us not forget that there are no certainties in this life, and no amount of meticulous planning or rule-book-following could ever shield us from its unpredictability. So why fret about leaping into the vast unknown when it might only bring us joy?  Why waste our days watching ticking minute hands like kids in a classroom when we could be evolving in our element? Touching lives? Impacting the world?

If you’re not happy, then change it. Even if it’s something small, like purchasing some household plants to drape across your living room or adding a mindfulness meditation to your morning routine. As long as you’re making some sort of change for the better.

It’s called the pursuit of happiness for a reason. We have to keep working at it. And these days, I suspect it’s been feeling more like a full-time job for everyone. But the secret to productivity is getting up and making that first move. It’s trading excuses for action.

So take some laps around the neighborhood. Get a haircut. Immerse yourself in a project for no reason other than because you want to. Small changes lead to big changes – so if you can start there, you can take yourself anywhere.

We’re all going through a major energy shift right now and it’s making people everywhere stop and think about what they truly want out of life. It’s forcing us to slow down and reevaluate who we are.

It’s okay to change your mind about what you want. But what’s not okay is remaining stuck in something that makes you unhappy. That’s not why you’re here and you deserve so much more than that. So change it.

. . .

Photo by Silvestri Matteo on Unsplash

Originally published on Thought Catalog

Subscribe to Old Soul Searching and get more motivational insights straight to your inbox!