Sometimes the Hardest Choice Is Actually the Kindest One

This week I was listening to one of my favorite podcasters, Mel Robbins, and what she was discussing stopped me in my tracks: 

Move toward something hard now, because staying in the hard is worse. 

That’s it. 

That’s the truth we don’t like to say out loud. 

We already know the current situation is painful. 

We know the daily stress is draining us. 

We know the “stuck” feeling has become its own form of suffering. 

And yet, the fear of change, the unknown, the risk, can make us hold onto something that isn’t working simply because it’s familiar. 

I Know This Because I Lived It 

A lot of the work I do in therapy is around life transitions, identity shifts, endings, reinvention, courage, boundaries, big leaps, and painful truths. 

I’m passionate about helping people through these moments because I’ve had to walk through them myself. 

When I left a very secure, stable income to pursue my dream of being my own boss. I was terrified. 

I felt out of control for months before it. 

I doubted myself. 

I battled every “what if.” 

But you know what scared me more than the leap? 

The thought of staying where I was. 

The thought of waking up 3, 5, 10 years later and realizing I never tried. 

Sometimes the future fear isn’t the leap,  it’s the idea of shrinking. 

The Hard Choice Isn’t Just Hard…It’s A Door 

Transitions are rarely comfortable. 

There are tears. 

There’s doubt. 

There’s guilt (especially for my parents, caregivers, and nurturers out there). 

But there is also the possibility of: 

- relief 

- alignment 

- authenticity 

- peace 

- pride in yourself for choosing yourself 

The hard thing now may be the kindest thing you do for your future self. 

If you’re in a transition right now, you don’t have to navigate it alone. You don’t have to already know exactly what the “new life” looks like. 

You only have to be willing to take one step toward what you need instead of staying stuck in what hurts. 

If you’re reading this and something inside you whispered, “that’s me”, that’s worth paying attention to. 

Because sometimes the hardest choice is not to leap…it’s to stay.