Trying to be like other people

As a stroke survivor I often find myself trying to be like other people when being 100% myself is more than enough.

Trying to be like other people is a multi billion dollar business. A lot of money is spent on advertising telling us that we will find happiness through being like other people. Achieving what the advertising is telling us is so difficult, even for a regular person, but for a stroke survivor, boy oh boy. Simply trying to recover is hard enough, let alone trying to work towards this “perfect image” that advertising is promoting.

I mentioned this because I felt it explained the similarities between the world we live in and how we try to “become” other people we admire by working towards what they do to get what they want etc..

Let me give you an example..

A lot of us think when I achieve this or do that etc I will be happy.. Right? I’m sure you’ve had this thought before? For example, one of my “stroke buddies” from the US is quite the entrepreneurial woman who has written and published two books. She also has a subscription based service that you can subscribe to from her Instagram account.. For the life of me I thought, ‘Yes, I want to start a subscription service too!!’…. My thoughts jumped between “yes, no, maybe” for a week or so. I just wasn’t totally sure what to do?
It was kind of like what I just mentioned before… I was trying to be like someone else, and along the way I unexpectedly lost touch with what I was working on in both of my businesses.
There is a thing that stroke survivors suffer from called “sticky brain”. It’s where something latches on to your mind and it is very difficult to let go of. For me it was whether or not to offer a subscription to all of my followers on Instagram and people who have subscribed to my newsletter.
Over the following days I spoke to a few different people (including the woman who has the subscription service in the US). Talking it through made me realise that what I am working on with my Julian Reddish Scarves business and the Julian Reddish Counselling business is enough. It is by all means, more than enough for me at this moment in my life.
Maybe in the future I may decide to change the focus of one or both of my businesses, but for now I will not pursue it.

Accepting your capabilities

It took talking to a few different people to help make me realise that being 100% myself is more than enough. Pushing myself to do something beyond my capabilities for the sake of trying to be like other people isn’t in my own best interest. For us stroke survivors just being ourselves and living a regular life is enough most of the time. Being ourselves instead of trying to “fit in with the crowd” will bring us far more happiness than continuously chasing the next “best thing” or trying to be exactly like someone that you admire.
Looking to people you admire and getting inspiration is a fantastic tool. However, there comes a time and a place when you need to draw the line and to learn to be deeply happy with yourself. To learn to be deeply happy with where you are on your stroke recovery journey.

If you feel you are struggling to be deeply happy within yourself I have several products on my website that can help you along this journey. Consider purchasing my book, The Simplicity of Life. Or my e-books Ten Step Guide or Stroke Recovery Toolkit. If you would prefer personal contact with another stroke survivor, consider my professional counselling services, which can be booked here.