For as long as I can remember, I have been engaged in an ongoing internal battle with my thoughts. Mostly this revolves around my abilities, like what I think I might do well and what I fall short with. I consistently question everything I do, second guess myself, and repeat over and over again until I feel defeated. This only continues to cause me to give up and let go of the dreams I once had and cared deeply about. I realize this is a self-confidence issue and I am doing this to myself without input from anyone else. I am not sure what causes this and I do not know how to change this.

I have mentioned previously I have always “dreamed” of being a writer. I have done several outlines of a book that I would love to write but discouraged myself every time I think about it. I have heard about many successful authors that had a difficult time at the beginning of their careers. These authors are now famous with a long list of fantastic books written, but the first several books they spent a great deal of time writing were turned down by many publishers. The determination and strength they had is incredibly powerful and inspiring. It does make me wonder was it their strong will and resilience or was it written in the stars for these authors to become who they are now?

My husband has witnessed my love and passion for writing for years now. He has read my posts and the many poems I have written over the years. He has been encouraging me to write a short story. Of course, I did start this new adventure with the hopes of strengthening my abilities and confidence. After I read several articles about how to write a short story, I stopped because I convinced myself the one, I was working on would never be good enough. I worried the story was taking too long because I read a short story that should not take long and should not be too long and overly detailed.

I understand there are different types of writing and numerous opinions on everything that is involved. One great thing I always used to think about writing is, that there is no right or wrong way to write, and each writer has their own personal style. It is amazing what the mind is capable of doing both positively and negatively, unfortunately, I tend to lean on the negative side. How do you break the cycle of always being hard on yourself?

How do you stop being your own worst enemy and convince yourself you are never going to be good enough? We only have one life to live and we will never be given a second chance or a do-over, so we much take chances and never give up on our dreams. Why are we living, if we do not always try our best to achieve our dreams? When we do not strive for what we want out of this life, we will lose hope and remain discouraged.

It is not always easy, but we must try to encourage ourselves and those around us. Life is already challenging and when we put ourselves down and enable further discouragement we will never believe in ourselves. It is critical to look on the bright side of all situations and gravitate toward those ideas. After we can correct the way we think about things, our lives will flourish and become happier!

Thank you for visiting my site today. I hope you had a lovely and safe weekend, and you are ready to begin this new week with a positive state of mind! I hope you found this post useful and encouraging, but I would love to read your thoughts. I will respond to all comments as soon as I can. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa