Be Fearless — Change Your Mind

I changed my mind. 

Four simple words that can change your life. 

From a young age the world forces us to make decisions. What do you want to be when you grow up? Who is your best friend? Where do you want to go to college? How many kids would you like to have? Where will you live? Where will you have the baby? What’s your birth plan? Will you circumcise, breastfeed, vaccinate, use cloth diapers, go back to work, co-sleep? Society expects women to have their life planned and put together like a perfect, polished jigsaw puzzle. 

When we change our mind, as mothers, it complicates things.

We worry that it makes us look weak. What if we decide being a working mom isn’t for us? What if we decide breast-feeding isn’t working out? The guilt and embarrassment follow us like a black cloud, although they shouldn’t. It looks like giving up, but it’s not.  

Some of us wear our convictions like an old comfortable pair of jeans. We hold onto them even with their holes and wear. Although they are falling apart structurally, we don’t really care because it’s comfortable. It’s what we’ve always known and what we’ve been wearing proudly for years. When we have an opinion, it’s not just an opinion; it belongs to us. We take ownership of our opinions and our convictions, and have a hard time letting them go even when it feels right. Change of mind has a negative association, no doubt. You’re fickle. You lack consistency. That’s not what you said before. Why don’t you have it all together?

We often overlook the courage it takes to stand up and say, “Hey, I made a mistake. I don’t believe this anymore. I don’t support this political candidate anymore. I don’t support this company. I decided to change my career. I don’t feel this way anymore. I don’t want to gossip anymore. I don’t want to be this way anymore. I don’t believe what I used to believe. I want to steer my life in a different direction.” Those decisions take a lot of strength and humility. Why aren’t they celebrated? It’s okay to change your mind when you learn something new about the world or about yourself.

I’m going to challenge you in 2018, just as I have challenged myself. Look at your worldview, dig deep into your beliefs, think about what is really and truly a priority in your life, and change your mind.