Suppose you are a receptionist. You get up every morning and prepare to go to a job where you must greet visitors and answer phones in a friendly nature. This is obviously not true for all, but play along with me. Every night before work there is a brief period of time that should be spent relaxing and preparing for the morning. We all need to destress and reset from the day’s stressors in order to attack the next day with the best version of ourselves. Knowing this, we convince our self that the day will be great and find any way possible to get some much-needed sleep. If we don’t, we lay in agony from the thought of the upcoming events. Either way, we know deep down that tomorrow will not be our best day.

Good morning! The anxiety has struck, and you no longer want to leave bed. You want to avoid the expectations of work and the awkward social interactions that will come. Before you’ve even left bed, you’ve developed a whole new career path that will have you as far away from that office as possible...in the next 10 years. Now that time frame is not always true, but it generally feels like it will take us forever to find happiness.

These feelings of overwhelming anxiety are terrible and completely unnecessary. You can put yourself in a situation where you enjoy your work, enjoy your social interactions, and enjoy your days. While these anxious feelings may be a catalyst for change (attaching a positive spin!!), they can be debilitating and make you miserable. If you haven’t noticed by now, there should be a point in all of these feelings where you realize that a change must be made. Whether this be a change of perspective or a change in career path, it is obvious that something needs to change.

This description was specific to a job that someone didn’t enjoy. However, this situation can be used to describe relationships that bring us discomfort and anxiety. It can be used to describe the feeling someone has as they discover that they will need to go to the grocery store in order to provide food for their household.

"I do not have to feel this way. I can no longer allow my stress and anxiety to control me. I can no longer let others control me. I need to change."

This is just the beginning. This is the easy part. Happiness is something we are all chasing, and considering a change for yourself that may lead to more happiness seems like a positive step. I’m not happy with the way things are and I need to change. It’s a basic concept and self-centered, but in the perfect way with zero negative connotations. This is for you!