As 2022 draws to a rapid close, I, like many of you, am reflecting on what a year this has been. I’m actually thinking broader this year, to what a lifetime it’s been. When I entered the world of counseling and psychotherapy, I did so with a clear and purpose-filled intent … to live easier. As an adult child of an alcoholic, a gay and queer man in Texas, and a person with bi-polar living easier ain’t easy. It’s a foreign concept because my experience of life has always been one of navigating depression, spinning anxiety, worry of what others think of me, mucking through often self-imposed guilt and shame, and constantly seeking safety. “Living easier” within a life narrative chosen for me, not by me, has seemed to be a pipe dream. But, I’m working daily to define an ever evolving and new narrative, one I choose, where living easier is an attainable concept and my reality.

I am writing, and constantly editing, my new narrative comes using four key tasks. First, thanking and then letting go of everything (material, emotional, and relational) that does not serve me. I do this over and over and over and over again without ceasing. Second, establishing boundaries around my relationships with myself, others, and my career. Third, honoring my past – recognizing how it influences my lived experience but not allowing it to define or limit my future. And fourth, extending limitless grace and forgiveness to myself for when I trip up, fall short in this journey, and chastise myself.

In my work, I get the sacred privilege to join in people’s journey every day as they seek to live with more ease by also writing a new life story and releasing all which no longer serves them. Defining a unique future while navigating the card’s we’ve been dealt in spiritual trauma, gender identity, mood disorders, sexual orientation, family of origin, careers, grief and loss, and countless other things is very hard work and rarely every fast. It’s complicated and exhausting, but rewarding.

Is living easier a goal of yours? What does this look like for you? I can help you figure that out and get there.