It’s been my reminder for years, but especially true lately... Someone’s opinion of you is not a direct correlation to your worth. Your story is not written in their walking away. Your value is not found in their choice. Do not weigh yourself down with the opinions and pain of others. I’m a people pleaser. It’s problematic. I will change anything and everything about myself for approval of another. Even if it’s painful, I would rather feel loved and accepted than be myself. No more. No more. I cannot please everyone. Everyone will not love me. And the only thing I can do is be me. The right people show up. The right people raise me up. The right people see that worth in just who I am. That will always be more valuable then conditional acceptance. Again, your worth is not dependent on another’s view or opinion of you. (at Stefari Café)

how i’m feeling lately

crawling out of my own skin. the world just doesn’t feel present or tangible. my days happen, but what really happens? my body is not my own I swear. I cannot stop my hands and arms and legs from wanting to move, but what they want to do I do not know. my veins are racing under my skin and I cannot control what happens underneath. I feel like I am suffocating, but from what I do not know. life is happening all around me, but I don’t remember all of it, any of it. my days are not marked by anything I can hold on to.

I am restless, but it is so much more than that. I am unfocused, but it is so much more than that

I am a million different emotions and movements in a singular moment, and yet none of them feel like they belong to me. 

My (our) thoughts are detrimental. “By our thinking and choosing, we are redesigning the landscape of our brain.” FRIENDS - our thoughts quite literally shape our brain - good and bad. “Research shows that 75 to 98 percent of mental, physical, and behavioral illness comes from one’s thought life.” *raises both hands with* “DNA actually changes shape according to our thoughts. As you think those negative thoughts about the future - the week ahead, what a person might say or do, even in the absence of the concrete stimulus - that toxins thinking will change your brain wiring in a negative direction and throw your mind and body into stress.” WOAH. How are your thoughts affecting your mental health? When I’m asked that same question, my only response is this: chaos forms chaos. The chaos of the thoughts I ALLOW to form, bring more chaos in how I live my life. Chaos forms chaos. Get your thoughts straight. Because guess what?? “The positive attitude, the food choice, rewired everything back to the original healthy positive state.” We can be healthy again. We can renew our minds. We can take back control. Your mental health matters. Self care matters. Take the time to rewrite. Switch On Your Brain, @drcarolineleaf