This Is How You Know You’re Not Settling For Less Than You Deserve

Please. Don’t settle in this life. Don’t just settle through the days and years of your life. Don’t let boredom or regret get the best of you. Don’t allow yourself to give into just a mediocre life. I know it’s easy; it’s simple to settle. It’s simple to stop trying, especially when things get hard. Settling can feel safe. I get that. But safe doesn’t always mean happy. Choose to do more with your life than just live. Give yourself permission to be more than just okay, and don’t be afraid to lose the good for the great.

Not settling doesn’t mean that you have to travel the world, or that you have to have spectacular adventures every day. It can mean this, but it doesn’t have to. Not settling means making more of your moments and more of your days. It means building up little bits and pieces of happiness wherever you can find them to form an incredible life. It means surrounding yourself with people you love and people who love you back.

Not settling means caring about yourself – it means respecting your own values and your own needs enough to know when to walk away from a situation. Not settling means discovering the tiniest facets of the world around you. It means feeling the laughs of joy and experiencing the salty tears of sadness. It means noticing the way the breezy autumn night’s make you feel invincible. It’s means soaking in the sparkling beauty of the fresh snow on a Sunday morning.

Love is supposed to be magical. Love is supposed to better you; it should lift you higher. So don’t settle for anything less than extraordinary, genuine love. Don’t chase after someone that stops chasing after you. Don’t try to convince someone to love you; you deserve so much more than this. Don’t settle for someone simply because he is right in front of you; because he is there. That’s never a reason to share your heart with someone. Don’t settle for attraction when the conversations aren’t deep, and don’t give into seduction when there’s no real life connection.

You truly should never feel like you have to surrender yourself to mediocre love when there is so much more for you out there. You deserve more. You deserve a person who wants to get to know your family. You deserve a person who asks about the details of your day. You deserve a person who wants to brag about you to his friends. You deserve a person who knows how lucky he is to have you when he has you. You deserve a person who puts in the effort because he wants to. Because he can’t not. You deserve this. So hold out and be patient; say no to the ones who don’t move you.

Work makes up a big chunk of your life. It takes up hours of your days, and hours of your thoughts. You don’t need to stay in a job that leaves you feeling lonely or drained. You shouldn’t dread going to work every single day. This is your life – the way you use your days should be meaningful to you. You don’t want your life to consist of countdowns, day after day, until work ends. I know work can’t be wonderful 100% of the time. Nothing is great 100% of the time. But by no means should work be awful. By no means should work feel like torture.

Work can and should be a part of your life that you like. It should challenge you and help you to grow. If you hate your job, make a change because honestly, the suffering just isn’t worth it. If it isn’t feasible to find a new job, make changes at your current job. Think about what you could do to feel more passionate about your job, or ways that you could feel more comfortable in your workplace. You want to feel like work encourages you and speaks to you. So don’t just sit back and settle. Don’t wake up to your alarm clock everyday feeling tired and emotionless or dreading your day. You have a say in this so stand up and take control. You deserve more.

Is there something that you are passionate about? Pursue it! Learn it! Seep it in! Surround yourself with what brings out that sparkle in you. Share it and spread it. Make a community out of it. Your passions should ignite you, they should create you. Don’t settle for not caring about anything, or for being passive about things you do care about. We are all passionate about something. You haven’t found your calling yet? So what!

Start learning. Start reading. Try new things. Put yourself out there and stop being so afraid. Are you passionate about writing? Start a blog. Are you passionate about singing? Start recording and sharing your songs. Maybe you’re passionate about politics- get involved with your local democrat or republican county society. If you follow in the path of the things you care about, you’ll find yourself in situations that bring out your very best self. So breathe in your passions. You will exhale new energy and life.

Don’t ever settle with disliking yourself. Don’t settle with feeling uncomfortable in your own skin. If you settle for this, you’ll never understand your worth. You’ll never be aware of your strength. You’ll hide away in the shadows and you won’t be able to chase after what you truly want in this world. And I promise, you have so much to offer. You don’t need to wait anymore to be yourself. You don’t need to wait to like yourself. Now is the time. Stop waiting for an external measurement to determine your worth.

You’re worthy and you’re valuable without meeting any certain standards. To stop settling is to realize that you are inherently valuable. So please don’t settle in your beliefs that you aren’t good enough, or that you don’t deserve more. Get to know yourself. Go on adventures. Make discoveries. Embrace what you love. Don’t settle for negativity. You are a one of a kind creation in this world, created by stars and magic. Don’t be so hard on yourself. You deserve so much more.

Not settling means making the most of this life. So make the most of every opportunity you see. Make the most of the moments you feel at peace. Make the most of the moments you feel yourself changing and growing. Make the most of the times in which you feel the most alive. Make the most of the people you love, and most of all, make the most of yourself. [tc-mark’