It’s Up to You!

Hello there! It’s Twiggs from {a place for twiggs} and I am back here on Indie Fixx… unfortunately for the last time! But just let me tell you that it has been quite a journey. Although I had been thinking about these topics in the first place, writing them and thinking more about each one was a really important step for me.

This last post is about…it is about a fairytale. Really? No! It’s about being happy! Do you think that that is a fairytale? I am pretty sure that it is not for me… as I am sure that for some people saying that “All I wish is to be happy!” might be something really selfish or not such a grown-up thing to say. Let’s face it… when we were kids did we think about grown-ups being happy? I think when we are children, we thought grown-ups had a very serious life. They paid the bills, they had a house, they had jobs, they had to take care of  us–they were the ones who told us what we could and couldn’t do. But did we ever think that they had to be happy or that was something that they aspired to be? No…not at all.

Then we grew up, we turned 20… 25… 30… 35… 40 and in the end we just want to be happy. We need to smile. We need to conquer our dreams. We need to dream before we conquer. We need to make choices. Suddenly being happy and fulfilled is a very important thing and something that adults should be concerned with.

Now when we are 20 we might not know what it will take to be happy and fulfilled. We might not even have a clue, but by 25 or 30 that clue may have been gone for quite a while. Or we can even find out at 30 what we want to do with our future?

This post is about being happy. This  post is about making choices. It’s about making decisions. Even hard ones. It is about standing in the room and saying what we wish to accomplish. Say it out loud. It is about hearing ourselves. It is about following our dreams and… being patient. So, a bit of a real story. I am 30 and a psychologist. Not those that treat depressed patients, but those who try to develop skills on people… those who work at companies in order to make those human resources develop at their best.

The truth? I never knew what I wanted to become. I just knew I wanted to move to New York. Well, it turned out that I fell in love and ended up studying here in Portugal… and Organizational Psychology seemed interesting. It turns out that love story didn’t work out and I never looked back any way. Then I had the chance to work for a huge consulting firm… and I did that for almost 4 years. But I was having enough of that corporate world. I wanted something else. I wanted to do something with my life that would be less stressful… more creative.

So I quit. I quit and changed jobs… and that one fell through 7 months later. And I was a happy gal! Happy because I always learned to look at things by the positive side. So this would be the chance to develop my skills in the creative world. And this is my path so far… Being happy requires strength, hard work and allowing yourself to dream. So, all you need is…

1. Think about what you want. This might take a while though! Do not be angry at you. Life will keep happening.

2. Figure out how you can do what you want. Your effort might start here, because sometimes we cannot just starting to do things.

3. Be positive. Remember, if this is the right thing for you, things will work out. You do need to work hard though… the thing about things working out for you, is that you need to work to begin with!

4. Be original. Can’t I just adapt what I saw another person do? No, you cannot. Well, you can feel inspired by others. Just be honest, ok? People will know… so save your time and theirs.

5. Just do it! Take action!

6.  Do it… Really! You have no money? So get a weekend job in order to save some money for your plans. See if there is a cheaper way to start… You don’t need to be perfect right away! Experience is the best to make us improve.

7. Be happy with your decisions, but you really need to make some  decisions though.. And if it doesn’t work out like you thought it would… don’t worry… be happy. This means that you did something… it didn’t work, so maybe you need to search for another direction… just don’t feel bad about that. Life is not just made up of successful days… the other ones will makes us laugh later! I promise.

And that’s it… I hope this makes you feel stronger and up to the challenge that is your own life. As this feature is called… it is only up to YOU! No one else will step forward to make things happen in your life, which leaves you to do everything! I am also on that journey… will you join me? Have a lovely Friday and weekend! And I hope to see you on my {place}!

– Claudia Casal, also known as Twiggs, is an organizational psychologist in love with photography. She is the author of {a place for twiggs} blog. Read more about her on the contributors’ page.