I was painting my nails and the base coat came out clumpy and didn’t look good because the bottle was almost empty. I left it there, thinking once it dried it’ll be fine.

I applied two coats of nail polish over the base coat, hoping that it would dry smooth. It did not. I could still see the imperfections and it made me think about my life, our lives, and how if we don’t have a good foundation in our early years(basecoat), we can feel the ill effects long after into our adulthood.

Our minds are like onions, we need to peel the layers away to get to the core. Sometimes we can’t go through the layers quickly because our brains can only process what we are capable of dealing with to not cause us more harm. And that’s a good thing.

So how do we fix our foundations? Well, how would you fix your house if there was an issue with its foundation? You’d probably have to jack up the house, put in new footers, pour concrete, repair walls, and so on. You’d do it because you need to have a safe house to live in.

Would you ignore your house’s weak and damaged foundation? Probably not. It would cause many problems above it in the house. So, why allow our lives to suffer from a weak foundation? We cannot ignore our foundations either.

What I find is that we have to look back to figure out how to change the course to where we want to go. It’s not always easy to go back and feel the feelings and deal with them. The most important thing is to have support nearby to reach out if things get too much to handle. We are social beings and need people to lean on once in a while.

However, no matter what we’ve been through, blaming people for how we feel is part of a victim mentality and our goal is to be independent and strong. We are responsible for our lives no matter what we have been through in our pasts. If they were part of our shaky foundation creation, there is no use blaming them anymore, just as you wouldn’t keep blaming the rain or erosion if your house foundation was in need of repair. You’d fix it and move on.

To help, here are some ideas that can reinforce or repair your foundation to live your best life:

Spend some quiet time with a piece of paper and write the answers to the following simple questions. If you can’t answer them in one sitting that’s okay. Give yourself a break and do it at your own pace. 

Are you happy? If not, why do you think you aren’t?

What would make you feel happy? 

What have you wanted to do that makes you feel good? Why haven’t you done it? 

What do you believe is holding you back from living a happy life? Can you change that? Will you change that?

What can you do today to take a small step towards making the change in your life you want to happen?

I believe that looking inside for answers is the key to fixing our foundation and giving us a stable, solid base to build a great life upon.

If you have any suggestions on how to fix your life’s foundation, please share. Thank you for reading!

To your best life,

[Photo of house foundation courtesy of the Basement Doctor @ https://www.basementdoctorcincy.com/foundation-services/settlement-sinking.html]