People generally say if its going to be, its up to me.  No truer words.  As the mother of four children, I found it easy to neglect who I was in an effort to be the best mother and wife I could be.  I now know that was a bad decision.

So here is the truth, the best you is best for everyone.  You see, you are responsible for the words on the pages of your life.  You write your own script.  Yes, life happens and some pages will have water spilled on them or get folded or worse, someone tears out a page.

The one thing you need to remember, at the end of the day, your life is your own.  People are watching and learning from your actions and reactions.  The best thing you can do for the watchers is give them something to watch.

Live your best life.  YOUR best life.  Not the life others want you to live.  That is the best thing you can give to yourself and those around you.  Too often we live a life that is not authentic.  When we do, we suffer from indecision and confusion.

Yes, there are times when you must make decisions with others in mind.  After all, we have friends and family who may be affected.  That is why you must live a life that is true to you.  So how do you do that?  Ask yourself these questions

Will this decision make me happy?

Will it hurt or harm those around me?

Am I being true to what I believe about myself?

Will a regret this decision later?

The answers to these questions will help you look at the decisions you make in a completely different way.  Let me give you an example. I was a school teacher and I loved working with the kids but I did not like teaching English.  I knew I loved working directly with the students and teaching them life skills.  It is my passion.

So I stopped teaching and went back to school to get my masters degree in psychology so I could learn how to understand how people think.  I loved every class except __________ (that’s another story for another time).  I minored in life coaching to learn how to implement what I was learning.

I later decided if I was going to get back into education, I wanted to be out of the classroom as an English teacher.  So, I decided to get my principal certification.  Great idea right?  Wrong!  I knew after my second class, I did not want to be a principal.

My husband, bless his safe heart, encouraged me to continue the program and get my certification.  Each class was grueling and I wished I was spending my time doing something else.  I knew having my certification would give me a certification to fall back on if I needed it.

I completed the 18 month program in 12 months.  It is done!  The next step is to take the two tests needed to get certified.  As much as I know it will be helpful and complete the last step to this certification, I am dreading it.

People who don’t live your life are quick to tell you how to live it.  No one has to study for this test but me.  I know taking this test is living the life my husband wants for me.  Will it mean I have wasted a lot of money?  Well it depends on how you look at it.

I have always wanted to write more and become more comfortable with writing.  The certification program gave me that opportunity.  I wanted to start a YouTube channel.  This program required me to make YouTube training videos.  I know how to create and edit training videos.

Who would have thought I would get this experience by taking this program?  With that in mind, I have learned things that have pushed me forward and I am the better for it.

Here’s the thing though, completing this program added pages to my book.  As I live my life, I have and am still learning how to live my life on my terms.  If I decide for some reason I want to take the test, I will because I want to.

As you write the pages of your life, there will be times when you have to pivot and go in a slightly different direction.  You may not understand initially why things are unfolding the way they are but deep down inside you know it is a better path for you.

Trust your judgement.  Trust your instinct.  Trust yourself.  We feel uneasy when we go against what is authentic to us.  If the pages of your book are written in red ink because that is your favorite color, don’t let someone else tell you to write in blue ink.

That is THEIR favorite color.

Let’s look at something else.