Mackenzie Carose

Giving Up and Starting Over

By Mackenzie 3 Comments

I read this quote recently and it really resonated with me:

“There is a big difference between giving up and starting over in the right direction. Know when enough is enough already, and respect yourself for feeling that way. Sometimes we have to say goodbye before we say hello. Sometimes we have to let go to move forward with our lives”.  -Marc and Angel Chernoff

I think too often we as humans give up on making a change because it seems too hard. It’s not the right time. Too many things have to come together for this thing to happen. If I don’t start, then I can’t give up. Change is overwhelming. I tried but it’s all too much. I give up. I give up. I give up. Sound familiar?

I get it, I absolutely do. But sometimes giving up and starting over can be beneficial. Humans are supposed to evolve. Staying stagnant and stuck is not how we are meant to function. Giving up and starting over doesn’t mean you are less of a person because you didn’t get it right the first time. Sometimes the “try again and again” part happens over and over and over. And maybe even then, you may not get it right.

Sometimes we have to let go to move forward with our lives. I fundamentally and wholeheartedly believe in this sentence. I have had to let go of relationships that were detrimental to my health. Coping mechanisms that I thought were helping me, really weren’t. I had to change my way of thinking to deal with the daily onslaughts to my mental health. I had to let go. I had to give those things up. I had to start over.

And I have had to move forward. It hasn’t always been easy. There have been good moments and bad moments but I am fundamentally in a better place in my life than I was even 3 months ago. Change is hard but necessary.

If you are feeling a push to give up and start over regarding an aspect of your life, listen to that whisper. Listen to that voice. Know when enough is enough and it is time to move in that direction that you know you need to go in. As the Chernoffs stated at the beginning of my post, “Sometimes we have to say goodbye before we say hello”.

Are you ready?

It’s Okay If Your Path Hasn’t Changed

By Mackenzie 9 Comments

Last year at this time I worked on a vision board for what I wanted to accomplish for 2020. I was very proud of my vision board and what I created and even wrote a blog post about it, detailing what I wanted to have happen. You can read about it right here.

Let’s all take a moment to laugh, slightly hysterically, at the thought that we could get anything at all accomplished last year. *sigh* Okay, now that we’ve got that out of our system, I wanted to talk about my 2020 vision board because I honestly thought about tempting fate and making one for 2021. But I ultimately decided against it. What I wanted to accomplish last year I still want to make happen for myself.

My path hasn’t changed.

A large part of my vision board had to do with health. I want to be healthier and this is something that NEEDS to happen. Once the pandemic started and all hell broke loose last year, being and staying healthy went right out the window. Everything felt heavy and life in general seemed hard to keep up with. I’d exercise in spurts here and there and then quit. I’d eat healthy for maybe two or three days in a row, and then drink wine and eat pizza. I know life felt like that for a lot of people and that is okay. We got by. But I am determined this year to do better.

I also placed pictures on my vision board last year that had to do with blogging and photo taking. I wanted to express my creativity more, but the news/quarantine life/pandemic/doom-scrolling just took over and I did not have energy to be in this space. I want to do better in 2021 and really devote a good portion of my time to this little corner of the internet.

When I wrote last year’s vision board post, I was planning on going on a road trip in the spring. Well, the spring is when everything fell apart in the world so we didn’t go in March like we planned but we did go to Utah for a few days back in October. It was so nice to get away from everything and spend some time out in nature where they actually have an autumn season. I would like to go somewhere again (socially distanced of course) with my family this year. Hopefully that can happen 🙂

It is okay if your dreams and goals did not happen last year. It is more than okay if you want to continue to pursue the same goals this year. 2021 can be the year that we start over whether it is a new path or the same path.

Growth is growth, no matter how it happens.

I Can

By Mackenzie 3 Comments

The word “resilient” is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as: the ability to withstand or recover quickly from difficult situations.

I believe that word could apply to many of us as we continue to grapple with the aftermath of 2020. The calendar page may have turned but the necessities of  pandemic living are still part of our daily lives. The realization that we continue to operate outside of our comfort zones and do the things that we think are impossible, shows us that we are capable of so much. We. Are. Capable. Of. So. Much.

Author Glennon Doyle states in her book Untamed, “We can do hard things”. It may have taken the dumpster fire of 2020 to hammer that statement home to me, but I firmly believe it. We can do hard things.

I can do hard things. I can do it. Self-limiting beliefs have not helped me so far, nor will they ever. No one limits me. I’ve limited myself. AND I AM DONE WITH THAT. No more “I can’t”, only I CAN.

My word(s) for 2021: I Can.

Do you have a word/phrase for 2021? Let me know in the comments!

**I originally posted this on my Instagram account. Come say hi if you’re in the neighborhood! 😉