There are times in life where it can be easy to feel stuck in miserable situations. Whether it's an awful job, a toxic relationship or an unbreakable bad habit that led/leads to your unhappiness, chances are you've been there. All of these things can lead to a spiral of misery that infects the other aspects of your life. It seems like no matter which direction you look, there is nothing but dead end signs. I recently found myself in one of these situations, and it felt like I had no viable options. I felt like no matter which path I decided to take, there was a terrifying consequence waiting for me in the end. However, I knew that the way I was living was not what I wanted for my life. So I made the decision to make a risky choice; I made a change. And a few weeks later I can gladly say that the results have been well worth the risk.
Change can be terrifying for many reasons. For example, there's always the fear of the unknown. It's easy to "power through" awful situations just to avoid the discomfort of stepping out of your comfort zone. If it's the case of a horrible job, it feels unreasonable to quit because there may not be a set position or career lined up afterwards. In an unhealthy relationship, it's easy to make excuses for the other person because there is a familiarity with them that seems impossible to find with anybody else. There always seems to be a reason why the change from an unpleasant lifestyle is unattainable. But the truth is that your life is what you make of it.
I realized that I wasn't where I wanted to be in my life months ago, but I was terrified of stepping out of my comfort zone. I continued with the same routine and allowed myself to go on being unhappy. Any alternative lifestyles seemed like even worse options for me, and I assumed that no matter what happened, I would end up miserable. I told myself there was no point in trying to fix it. However, a few weeks ago, I came to the harsh realization that nothing was going to change on its own. In order for my unhappiness to go away, I needed to initiate some sort of change myself. Although I was terrified because I didn't have all of the answers I once thought I needed, I decided to remove myself from my toxic situation.
It's been a few weeks since I made the significant change in my life, and I still don't know the answers to all of the questions I had in the beginning. But I've come to realize that it's okay to be missing the answers. It's perfectly fine to not know what's coming next. I knew that I wasn't happy with something that was going on in my life, and it's not okay to remain in that situation in hopes that it'll get better on its own. It won't. I was taught that the world is mine to take, but I've learned that I've got to open my hands myself in order to hold it.
