One Person Project

“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything”-Bernard Shaw. Depressed, sluggish, tired, fat, and pessimistic are words that were perfect descriptors of me. I was feeling like life was just passing by, waking up and going through the motions like a product on a conveyor belt over and over, day after day. The only excitement I felt was when it was time to drift away into the ether of my dreams every night. I went through life like a drifter just floating through for years, feeling like I was never noticed, made an impact, or impression. I felt stuck!

“Life is not supposed to be like this” was a constant mantra in my head, and I was right life is not supposed to be like that. I was sick and tired of being a bystander in my own life, so I decided to go from being a bystander to the hero of my own story. I woke up one day knowing something had to change, I could not continue down the path I was on. Recognizing the areas of my life that were making me unhappy was the very first step to making changes toward a happier life. Facing and working through past trauma so I could identify patterns and habits that were formed from a place of fear was life changing.

The “One Person Project” is about the most important project you will ever work on in your life…YOU. This blog will go through my personal experience of making positive changes in my life. I overcame addiction, dealing with extremely difficult family dynamics, poverty, and depression to make a better life for myself and become a better influence for my children. I want to share my journey to inspire other people to take the steps to becoming a better version of yourself. One of the first things you can do is get out a pen and some paper, write down the question “What in my life is no longer serving me?” write down the people, places, routines, habits, etc., that are evoking negative emotions. List everything that makes any negative feelings or emotions come out; they can be things as small as “these shoes make my feet hurt every day” to big issues such as “I haven’t been happy in my marriage for a long time”. Just identifying the things in your life that make you unhappy, depressed, uncomfortable, or ashamed is a huge step in healing. We can’t make changes if we don’t even have a starting line for the journey and the items on your list will give you that start line.