Sometimes You Have to Be Your Own Hero ...
Updated: 2 days ago
The need to be your own hero in your life's story is true on so many levels. Sometimes you need to stand up for yourself and make a change. Will you be the Hero in your own life, or leave that to someone else?
Change may not be easy. It takes time, patience, overcoming fear, and a lot of self-love. When faced with difficult circumstances, the Hero's journey starts with a willingness to look at what's really happening and an openness to new ideas and solutions. There is no try, just do. And, yes, sometimes the grass IS greener on the other side.
Quite often, we don’t know how strong we are until we face challenges in our lives. Rather than wait for these hardships to appear, we can be a step ahead of the game by learning to be our own Hero, in good times as well as bad.
Be your own hero by:
Show yourself love and be kind to yourself no matter what's happening.
Speak kindly to yourself and be mindful of the inner dialog running.
Develop and understand your own beliefs and values.
Stay true to commitments you've made to yourself and do what you say you're going to do.
Rewrite the negative stories to have a positive outcome and to find strength and encouragement.
Feel proud and confident in yourself, your choices, and this new path you're embarking on.
One thing we may come to recognize, when being our own hero, is that it’s difficult to change without our spouse or loved ones being on board. If you don’t have support on this journey, it makes it even harder to get to where you want to be. New behaviors directed at you may be positive, or they may be negative. Their reactions can go either way depending on the other person’s mindset, values, opinions, and beliefs.
For example, if you gave up an addiction that your friends or loved ones still cling to, you may get resistance or backlash. This may show up in different behaviors, comments, or trying to pull you back into that old world you've been working to break free from.
Another example, let's say you make a choice to dive into your passion and leave a job that is sucking the life out of you. You may encounter troubles with loved ones or friends putting doubt in your head, foisting their ideas of scarcity on you, or mocking your newfound career. They may think their thoughts and opinions are coming from a place of care or help, yet none of these negative ideas or beliefs support the new path you are embarking on.
We can be so easily derailed from our Hero's Journey by people in our lives, our inner circle, the inner dialog, or even by society. When starting out, the seed of change and healing has just been planted and is fragile. We need to realize that growth and change in each of our lives come from within, and that lasting change and healing take time and personal responsibility.
Having support and encouragement along the way helps tremendously. This support can be from your inner circle, but quite often it is necessary to receive outside input from a trained person you can trust. A person who can and will say no to ideas and behaviors that are sabotaging your life and will guide you to make the changes necessary to see growth and healing come from within.
Even Superheroes need help along the way. Acceptance of this brings us back to that idea that we are all interconnected as humans by compassion for ourselves and everyone around us. Our inner compassion for ourselves allows us to reach out and ask for help when needed, rather than feeling alone, isolated, and separated when things get difficult.
Don’t get stuck in fear, comfort, or preoccupied with the problem. There are solutions to get you to where you want to be in life. Taking the first step, reaching out for help, and taking responsibility for what happens in your life jumpstarts the healing Hero's Journey for yourself (or your loved one).
Reach out today and become the Hero your life's story needs you to be.
Thank you, and I look forward to working with you
~Alicia Londos
