Estimated Reading Time 6 Minutes
Hey You! Welcome to The Vibrant Life Podcast! I’m Emily Romrell and we made it to episode 50, Peeps! Can you believe it? It’s blowing my mind a little bit. And I just want to say how grateful I am to all of you my friends for listening to the podcast and showing so much support. I personally have grown so much since we started this adventure together and it’s only the beginning, my friends. There is still so much we can do to learn from and encourage each other.
If you’re loving the podcast too, please share the show with your friends and family. And it would mean so much if you would leave a quick review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts. I’m excited to grow this community of people working every day to live their best lives. You are a big part of that, my friends.
Usually, I do an interview every tenth episode, and that is still the plan, but last month brought some challenges that threw me off my groove a little bit. It’s another reminder that I need to be more prepared for the future because we all know that life is guaranteed to throw curve balls at us. So stay tuned. I have a list of amazing people I hope to introduce to you eventually.
However, I’m stoked about the topic today. It’s an idea that’s been marinating in my mind for years now and I think my thoughts have finally come together at just the right time to share with you. Episode 50 is titled You’re Not A Sissy. And it wasn’t until after I wrote the title that a little tingle of joy shivered down my spine and my inner child grinned back at me thinking, “Hey, that rhymes!”
Do you ever get frustrated and angry because you find yourself dealing with the same challenges over and over again? You make some progress and then whoops, you slip up and make the same mistake you’ve made too many times before. Or it might not even be a mistake. Maybe it’s just another episode of depression, or chronic pain, or a loved one causes you pain that they have caused before. Usually, life is made up of an individualized blend of these challenges for each of us, right?
There are so many nights that I get on my knees to pray and I find myself thinking and sometimes, saying, “Here we go again, Heavenly Father…” Sometimes I feel embarrassed and frustrated and I almost don’t want to pray about the same things again. Have you been there? However, I do find comfort in the knowledge that Heavenly Father loves each of us perfectly. He just wants us to make time for him and if it’s about the same struggles, that’s okay.
I remember a few years ago, I had started therapy again and I told my counselor that I felt like Sisyphus, that guy in Greek mythology that was doomed to push a boulder up the mountain for eternity. He would get nearly to the top and the boulder would roll back down to the bottom again, forcing him to start over. When you feel like that, your efforts seem futile and life can feel pretty bleak.
Let’s take a quick look at the story of Sisyphus. In Greek Mythology he was a king and although he was known for his cunning and had a brilliant mind, Sisyphus wasn’t a nice guy. He ruled as a tyrant. A couple of fun facts though, Sisyphus is credited with founding the Isthmian Games, basically the Olympics with sporting and musical competitions dedicated to the Greek God Poseidon. And in some later accounts, Sisyphus is the father of Odysseus, who is one of the most famous heroes of legend.
Anyway, Sisyphus like many of us was terrified of death, so he came up with a plan. He chained Death when it was his time to die thus making it impossible for anyone to die. Eventually, Ares rescued Death so Sisyphus was forced to die. But he had previously told his wife, that if this happened, she should leave his body unburied. So when he did get to the underworld, Sisyphus was allowed to go back up and punish her for that disrespect. Once he was back up top, Sisyphus basically lived a second life until he was once again old and then he did truly die and was sent down to Hades. Because of this trickery, Sisyphus was doomed to push that ominous boulder up the hill for the rest of eternity.
I think sometimes we all get prideful, or complacent, or whatever and like Sisyphus, we think we can avoid the consequences of life. And we trick ourselves into making the same mistakes over and over again. Then when find ourselves back at the bottom of that same hill, it’s so easy to become discouraged.
Here’s the truth though, we are not characters from mythology. We’re humans and we gain experience and knowledge every time we fail. One thing that has brought so much hope to me is learning about the Cycle of Change. I think I’ve mentioned it before and you can see a depiction of it in the show notes.
I won’t go in-depth through the whole thing, but here’s the main gist. First, you have no desire to change or you may be unaware an issue exists. Then you think about changing. Then you prepare to change. Then you actually take action and do the work. You achieve some success. Then you enter a maintenance phase. And then, it’s very natural to relapse into old behaviors. Finally, you come back to the beginning where you may or may not have a desire to keep moving forward on the personal development journey.
Here’s where the light bulb moment came for me: It’s an upward spiral. We learn from each relapse and become stronger and better each time we go through this cycle. And when it clicks that it’s okay to relapse sometimes and it’s even expected. Then it’s easier to be kind to yourself and move forward.
This process is very similar to strength training when you exercise. You lift weights and push yourself and little by little you become stronger.
We are not stuck climbing the same hill over and over again either. Rather life is full of ups and downs, mountains and valleys and it’s up to us whether we move forward along the road. But we are on a road, not a treadmill, or an escalator, or a legendary hill. How much ground we cover is entirely our choice.
When I was a kid being called a sissy was one of the worst insults. Even as children we want to be considered brave and strong. Maybe especially as kids, right? We want to be the heroes in our own stories. And sadly, when you’re young other kids can be cruel. They often point out weaknesses that stay with us into adulthood. That feeling of being a sissy is not fun, peeps, is it?
Overcoming limiting beliefs from our childhood can be difficult. And when we’re stuck in those limiting beliefs you might say we’re channeling our own metaphorical Sisyphus. We’re pushing individual boulders up steep hills and it makes life so heavy.
Here’s the good news, lifting heavy things makes us strong. And some more good news, you are a capable, beautiful, human being, and you can choose to set heavy things down when you’re tired, or if those things you are carrying don’t serve you anymore. A burden is only a burden because of the way you choose to carry it. I’m not saying it’s easy to let things go. I’m working on all of this stuff myself and the truth is it’s hard work. It takes practice. But you don’t make changes in your life instantly. It’s a process. It’s a Cycle of Change.
There’s a reason that I keep my podcast episodes short. They usually run between 10-15 minutes. I believe key concepts sink in easier when you keep things simple and concise. If we can focus on just one simple principle a week and really meditate on it, and truly attempt to implement it into our lives. Day by day, week by week, we will learn and grow into our best selves. Life doesn’t have to be overwhelming. We don’t have to be perfect. We can simply choose to be a little bit better tomorrow than we are today. We can enjoy the process. We can live a vibrant life.
This week I want you to know that you are not a sissy. You are not a mythological Sisyphus doomed to push a meaningless boulder up a hill forever. You have power in the choices you make every day. I want you to know that it’s okay if you make mistakes or relapse. Setbacks are expected. But every challenge you face is a stepping stone that will bring you closer to fulfilling your potential. I want you to know I believe in you. That’s the whole purpose of The Vibrant Life Podcast. We are all connected and we’re all in this together, for fifty more episodes and beyond.
Thank you for choosing to spend a few minutes of your week with me. It means a lot. I hope you feel encouraged to make some small changes that will make a big difference in your life. And I hope you feel empowered to let unnecessary things go when they get heavy. You can be the hero in your story. You can live a vibrant life.
Take care, my friends. Have a fabulous week.
