Between a thought and another, stop. By Marita Kassis

April 25, 2023

We always have a choice, and it all comes down to what we decide we want to do and how we decide we want to impact the life of those around us. Self-reflection helps, but self-assessment is everything.
Marita Kassis
The notion of being your own knight in shining armor, and standing up for yourself is charming, but the act of doing so is less poetic. It takes not only courage, but a great deal of determination, self worth, and conviction into the woman and person you want to be. Reaching crossroads and crossing bridges are all nice picturesque metaphors to explain change. Enacting
it, however, is a whole other story.
We dwell so much on the details that sometimes we forget to look at the bigger picture. It is an
absolute truth that these small moments take us from one happy snapshot to the other, but
what about the undocumented moments in between? So much happens in the background,
impacting every move we make, and heightening every mood we’re in, but for some reason, we
tend to underestimate them
“If it’s not recorded, did it really happen?” People can’t see them anyway, you won’t have to
explain them. And so, the mind gets used to brushing off those behind-the-scenes episodes,
building a whole wall around it, and moving forward with every other recorded and broadcasted
minute. This becomes part of your attitude. This is how you deal with it.
Until. The. Walls. Collapse.
That’s when the bigger picture stamps itself as a poster in the middle of your vision board. If
you didn’t see it before, trust me, it’s splashed right in front of you, up and center. Once you see
it, you’re either thrown off-guard because you had no idea it was this bad, or you’ll be happily
surprised of how colorful it is.
This is not an epiphany or the holy grail of all mysteries. Everyone knows that you fight small
battles, they accumulate and they can have a drastic impact. But did you ever take a second to
consider why it is that we never stop to reassess what’s behind the wall? Once we settle into a
pattern, that might seem comfortable for a specific time, it becomes “safe,” we start an
autopilot mode where we navigate the waters by simply floating. We do fight for what we want,
every now and then, but most of the time we just follow through, because we’re afraid of
clashing, we avoid new unchartered territories. We stay put because knowing where you stand
and what you’ll get is better than venturing into the unknown. The pain of the familiar becomes
far better than the pain of the unfamiliar.
Take a second to reread that last sentence and realize how sad such a reality would be.
Unsurprisingly, this is the reality of most people. I’m not here to repeat what you already know,
BUT there is no waking up too late, nothing is ever “too late.” Everything in life is finite, when
you realize this and the importance of nurturing what you have because it could break,
everything gets a new touch of magic. Every morning a new opportunity to pursue your dreams
and uphold your surroundings.
Few get to see daily blessings, many get immersed in the daily parody of wanting more, aiming
for more, and never being satisfied. It’s a non-stop machine, but you can always catch up with it.
What you can’t make up for, is lost time with those you love, painful memories that you inflict
along the way, and hurtful impacts because you’re too stressed. No matter how hard you try,
these, you can never take back, these have a “too late” tag.
If you’re reading this – take a second to pause and reflect on your priorities, your attitude, your
life. Are you dragging? Are you where you want to be? Are you clear? No matter the answers to
those questions, make sure that as you move along the path that you have chosen for yourself,
you move with purpose and care before you epically set your world on fire in an unredeemable
way because you’re seeking change. Change is necessary, when done for the right reasons. Get
your reasons and feelings aligned, and then follow your instinct.
Life gives heartaches and headaches for free, make sure that what you spread and attract is
beauty and kindness. These also come for free, but their abundance is priceless.