On reinventing yourself...and a hard decision..

I have been thinking a lot about the reinvention of self.

I have certainly done it, and most people probably have. Changing the style of clothes you wear. Changing hair style and color. For those of us who blog, changing blog names, making new ones. As I said, I am reasonably sure that most of us have gone through this process at least once.

I have noticed something though. Some people seem to do this constantly. Every week, or month, or every few months, they totally overhaul their lives, or something about their lives, only to end up the same exact way they were before. Then they announce some big new change, a total revamp...and they end up right back where they were before, facing the same problems, having the same attitude, going through the same issues over and over again.

I have learned that you can not run from your problems. You can not run from yourself. You can make all the outward changes in the world, but if you do not change who you are at your core, then you are always going to end up right back where you started. If you have a bad attitude, or if you blame everyone else for your problems, you can change anything you want, but if you do not change your attitude, or take some personal responsibility for your life, you are just wasting your time and effort. Six week, or six months from now, you will be right back at square one, with a new name, a new face, or a new wardrobe, but until you change your outlook on life, none of it will matter.

Instead of trying to change the outside, try changing the inside. Consider that if you keep having the same issues over and over again with other people, maybe it is not the other people's fault. Maybe it is YOU that needs to change, not them.

Keeping things fresh, and having a little shake up every now and then are very good things in my opinion. Repeating the same mistakes over and over again while wearing a different (metaphorical) outfit changes nothing. It took me a long time to realize this. I spent so much time blaming my parents for my mistakes, or saying that I was a victim of circumstance, so since it was not my fault, then it was also not my fault that nothing ever changed inside of me. I stopped growing and learning. I spent all my time being bitter and angry, feeling betrayed and victimized when people supposedly did me wrong. What really happened was people got tired of my bullshit, and decided they were better off without me. I realized I was that person that everyone walked on eggshells around, because they never knew when I was going to blow up, or flip out on them, or get up on my high horse and be totally bullheaded and unreasonable about something. I was a walking time bomb.

It took most of the people I care about basically walking out on me and my bullshit to realize that until I took a long hard look inside myself, and realized that the only person who was making me a victim was me, I was destined to be alone and miserable. My marriage suffered, my relationship with my family suffered, my friendships suffered. Granted, not ALL of the fault was mine, there were some cases where whomever I was dealing with was just a jerk or something, but most of the time, I could place a good portion of the blame squarely on my shoulders, even if it was a situation like I am in now. Someone is in my life who is not good for me, I do not like this person's attitude, or their outlook on life. However, because I care for this person, I allow the relationship to continue, even though I am unhappy, and need to get out of it. I am not being what this person needs in their life, and they sure as hell are no where near what I need in mine. So even though it is the person's fault that they are the way they are, the blame is just as much mine because I let it continue.

The funny part in all this is that I hate to be the bad guy. I hate to be the one who walks away. I hate to be considered a quitter, or a bad friend, or whatever the case may be. So I have let it continue, knowing that the relationship is not what I need, and since I am not getting what I need, I am not giving what they need either. I just can't stomach it anymore. To much has been lost, I have had to fight to hard to get back what was taken from me, and I just do not want to do it anymore. The person has not changed in years, and from what I see, they never will. The backlash is inevitable.I will be talked about, probably slandered, and told to anyone who will listen that I am a bad person, because that is how this person works. Know what? I honestly do not care any more. That no longer scares me, because the people in my life who care about me know me, and know who I am at heart. I do not hate this person, in fact I have cared for a long time, but I just can not stomach the relationship any longer. No amount of external reinventing will change who they are inside, and after years of witnessing this, I fear they will always be this way, and that makes me sad, because if all that icky energy were channeled the right way, this person would be the best friend one could ever have.

I have been agonizing over this decision for weeks, and it was a simple thought and resulting picture that brought it all to a head, and I realized that I will be okay, and just as importantly, the other person will be okay as well. We both deserve better in life, and this stagnant friendship is only dragging us both down. So I am freeing us both tonight. My decision is made. It will hurt, and it will probably hurt us both, but I have to do it. I have worked to hard on myself to be drug backwards, and it is like looking at myself in the past. I am moving forward, and the person I see ahead of me will never be obtained until I get away from those who keep me rooted to who I was in the past.

I have learned these lessons the hard way, which is how it usually works for me. Nothing worth having in my life has ever come easy, which is why I know this has to be done. I speak from a place of understanding and experience, not a place of " I do not like you anymore, kick rocks." I hope this person finds happiness within THEMSELVES, not from external trappings and through other people. Because unless you can look hard at yourself and realize your own faults, you have no room to be pointing out any one else's in my opinion.

So that is where I am tonight. Making hard, but much needed choices. So we can both move forward in our lives, what ever direction that may be. I know the other party will not believe it, but I end this relationship with no ill thoughts or wishes, I truly hope that this person is happy and will continue to be so, and will experience great love and friendship. I really do. I still care about them, but I just can not do this anymore. What was had is now lost, and I do not see a way to get it back. So I am walking away, even though it is hard and pains me to do so.

So folks, I guess the moral of the story is this:

Have a great week everyone, and take some time to do some inner reflecting, what you find just might surprise you...

Everyone but me...

I seem to have a bad habit. One that I really want to get rid of, but I am having a hard time. My bad habit is that I seem to be able to be nice to everyone but me.

I will give the shirt off my back to anyone who needs it. I will help someone out in any way I can, even to the detriment of myself.

However, when it comes to being nice to myself, being giving to myself, I fall very short.

I am lucky enough to live a somewhat life of leisure. We are not rich, or even comfortable half the time, but I am lucky enough to be a stay at home mom. Sure, our situation would be improved if I DID work, but I do not HAVE to work right now. Child care expenses, having only one vehicle, and the cost of gas make it cheaper for me to stay home than to try to work, especially in a town where there is not a lot of jobs to be had. Not to mention I have physical limitations, but I digress. The point is, I have a lot of time here at home, and one can only cook and clean so much, meaning I have a lot of "free time" if you will.

The problem is, I have a hard time doing anything for myself. I feel guilty if I am not doing something "domestic," or I sit here at the computer, able to jump up at a moments notice and be able to go do something. I have over 700 books on my tablet to read, but I never take the time out for myself to actually read them. I never fix food or drink in a special capacity, because it will mean I have to make some for everyone. I am not trying to be selfish, it is just if I want a cup of tea, I do not want to start on it and then have to make a pot of coffee for Jack or who the hell knows WHAT for Alex, since no one in the house can eat or drink anything with out her having to be involved somehow. I can not be alone at all. If I go in my room to read or try to play a game on the PS2, I have to have an audience to "see what I am doing." Hell, I can not even fold LAUNDRY without an audience. Gods knows THAT is fun and exciting and not to be missed! Sure, I have a daughter who despises and refuses to be alone unless she is asleep, and a husband who apparently needs to be near me most of the time, and those two things cause issues at times, but even when I have the freedom to do what ever I want, I do not do it. While Alex is school I could read or listen to music or play a game or something, but I don't. I sit here at the computer, even though there is no one to talk to most of the time, and nothing online catching my interest, but somehow it is the only thing I can "justify" doing for myself. Wasting time online.

If I want to curl up with a book or play a game, I start and then I am overcome with such a HUGE feeling of guilt, like I am doing something wrong. I was very sick a couple of weeks ago, running between 102 to 103 fever, and I was so sick I HAD to spend the later part of the afternoon and evening in bed. I went to bed about 6 that night, and since I was not sleepy, I just needed to lay down, I had the TV on and I was reading on my tablet...and I felt awful about it. Like I was slacking off or something. The next day, even though I still felt like I was dying, I got up and cleaned the house like a madwoman, as if to make up for my being so lazy the day before. No one else makes me feel this way. Jack certainly does not care if I read or entertain myself, so it is not like I have other people to make me feel bad. I do it all to myself. For no good reason. Do I feel so guilty for choices I made as a teen and young adult that I am somehow still punishing myself 15 years later? Does the voice of my Father echo in my head? The voice that told me I was not good enough, I made stupid mistakes, I was lazy and stupid? ( That was a long time ago and for the most part my Father is no longer like that, but for most of my life he was, and it did a number on me.) I do not know. All I know is that I can never let go, never relax or do things for myself with out that horrible sense of guilt. It sucks. I stay stressed out, even when nothing else is going on that causes stress. I get chest pains, anxiety attacks. I snap at Jack and Alex, when it is not their fault.

When something good happens to me, I never get excited...because I am always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Always waiting for the next thing that will come along and knock me off my feet. I always get back up, but I sure am tired of having to dust myself off. I want to relish happiness. I want to enjoy things. Good things DO happen to me, nothing huge, but lots of little things, and I take almost no joy in it. I won a 165 dollar Epiphanie camera bag in a contest last week, and I was thrilled...for about 5 minutes. Then it was " Better not get TO excited, or something will happen to mess it up." I sabotage myself. I KNOW I do, but I have no idea how to NOT to that to myself. The funny part is, I am not a miserable person, I consider myself blessed and pretty fortunate most of the time, even though my life is and has not been a walk in the park. So why my mind does this to me is a mystery.

I do not know how to be kind to myself. I feel something is trapped inside of me. Something huge, just waiting to burst out of the confinement it has been trapped in. I have no clue what it is. No clue how to let it out. I have a hard time telling people no. I try to always make myself available, even when I do not want to. When I write, I rather be totally alone, letting the words flow...but I never do that. I have my yahoo open so two of my best friends that I talk to there can always reach me, even when I KNOW they would be 200% understanding if I said, " Hey, I am writing, let me catch you when I am done," and KNOW they would not mind a bit. Do I do that? Not a chance. I love them, so I am here, even if I am trying to do something else. I always have a Facebook tab open, no matter what I am doing, in case someone wants to talk to me there.

I know I sound like I am bitching and moaning, but I do not feel that I am. This has reached a point that it is coloring everything about my life. I am resenting other people for their happiness, even while being ACTUALLY happy for them at the same time. I do not resent their good fortune, because I have a good amount of that in my life at times, I resent their ability for having a prolonged feeling of happiness. I resent their ability to have joy and show it for longer than a few minutes. I resent their ability to be good to themselves, and to allow themselves to be happy and feel joy, and do what makes them happy without that pervading sense of guilt that colors everything I do. I do not want what they have, I want to FEEL what they feel, when they are happy.

How do I fix that? How do I fix what is broken inside my mind? How can I actually enjoy the good things that happen to me?  How can I revel in that? I do not want other people's happiness, I am not jealous for the good things happening to them. I just want to be able to enjoy the good things that happen in my OWN life.

Why can I be happy for everyone but me?

Why do I always feel like I am on the outside, looking in?