The Struggles of Change and Why Yoga Helps

Trying something new is hard and extremely uncomfortable at times. Between terrible weather and sickness, I’ve had a lot of time on my hands, giving my brain plenty of time to do what it does best: overthink.

What if I can’t make any money with this freelance stuff? Am I bailing on my husband by leaving my job? We’ve talked about it several times, and his answer is always the same: he’d rather make budget adjustments than deal with an unhappy wife.

Non-profit work is hard too, but I’ve done it for years. Now, I’m uncomfortably stuck in my comfort zone. I don’t have a degree or a fancy title to bring to an employer and say, “Hey, hire me! I know my shit.” I do know some shit and I’m doing everything I can to learn more.

In today’s information-driven world, I’ll sit at my computer for hours trying to attach crawlers to my website for SEO when my original goal was just to write 1,000 words. It’s too easy for me to get distracted exactly like my dogs when they spot a squirrel! I spend too much time chasing squirrels instead of stocking my tree with nuts for survival.

But the only way to move is forward. I’ve done the same thing for too long, and it’s time to do what I want to do instead of what I have to do. Empowering? Yes. Terrifying? Completely.

There’s a voice inside my head telling me I’m not good enough, fast enough, or smart enough to take this risk. It warns me that failure is inevitable and I’ll have no one to blame but myself when it all goes up in flames.

But thanks to my daily yoga practice, I’ve finally learned to tell that voice to shut the hell up. I don’t have to be first, best, or always right. I’m slowly chipping away at the giant ego that ruled my life for so long and it’s rewarding to see the progress.

Yoga is good. Writing is good. Life is good. What’s the worst that could happen with that cocktail?

Now it’s your turn: What’s something you’ve wanted to do, but haven’t found the nerve to start?