Becoming the Main Character of Your Life

Your story isn’t meant to be whispered, it’s meant to be owned, shouted from the rooftops, and reshaped in your hands.

For too long, I was a background character in my own life. I didn’t even realize it until I took a long, hard look at the path I was on. I followed scripts I never wrote, adapted to roles I didn’t choose, all while watching others take bold steps forward, and there I was, frozen, waiting for permission to live the life I wanted.

I remember sitting in front of my laptop, eyes glued to the screen, sending out job application after job application. The rejections came in one after another. Each email felt like a slap, a reminder that I wasn’t good enough. The silence during those months was suffocating. There were entire days where I didn’t speak to anyone, not a single word. It felt like I was disappearing.

Then came the moment I decided to stop living like that. I realized no one was going to hand me the life I was waiting for. If I wanted to move forward, I had to take control of my own narrative, and no, it didn’t happen in some dramatic, life-changing event, it was more like slowly waking up from a long nap and realizing that the life I was letting pass me by could be rewritten by me. I stopped looking for the answers outside of myself. I started believing that I could write my own story, and I was the only one who could.

Living passively is easy. It’s the path of least resistance. You wake up, do what you’re expected to do, and then go to sleep, feeling like something’s missing but not knowing exactly what it is. You’re stuck in a cycle of survival, not living, but one day, you realize years have passed, and you’ve been letting time slip through your fingers.

I had to ask myself a question: “Why am I doing this? Is this the life I actually want, or am I just following someone else’s script?” The truth was uncomfortable. I wasn’t living the life I wanted. I was playing a role I’d inherited, one dictated by other people’s expectations. So I decided to stop waiting for the “perfect” moment to act. I didn’t know exactly where I was going, but I knew I needed to take that first step. Even if it was tiny, it was still a step forward.

The first step wasn’t some grand gesture’ it was simply making the decision to write, to carve out time every day to express what was in my head, to connect with others through words. At first, it felt like pushing a boulder uphill. My mind screamed that I wasn’t good enough. "Who are you to write?" it said. "No one cares about what you have to say,” but I did it anyway, even when it felt stupid, and even when I doubted every word I typed.

That’s when I learned the most powerful lesson, that self-doubt is a liar. It tells you that you’re not ready, not enough, that failure is waiting around every corner, but if I’d let that voice win, I would still be sitting there, frozen in indecision. No one ever feels truly ready. They simply take action and make themselves ready along the way.

I stopped waiting for permission. It wasn’t easy, but it was necessary. For years, I had been seeking validation from others, waiting for someone to tell me I was good enough. That approval never came, so I decided to give it to myself. Every single day, I chose to take another small step toward owning my story, even when I didn’t have it all figured out.

Self-doubt will always be there. It’s the nagging voice that says, “Don’t try. You’ll fail,” but you can’t let it control you. The key is learning to recognize that voice and separate it from reality, and the more you push past it, the quieter it gets.

I used to be obsessed with comparison. I’d look at someone else’s success and think, “Why can’t that be me?” I compared their story to mine, and all I ended up doing was feeling less than, but here’s the thing: your path is your own, their story doesn’t matter to yours, and the more I detached from that comparison, the more I started to feel the freedom to truly be me.

But it wasn’t all easy. There were moments I wanted to give up. I still remember the time I turned down a speaking opportunity because I didn’t think I was ready. Fear told me I’d embarrass myself, but a friend called me out, and that’s when I realized how much I was letting fear control my life. I was ready, yes, ready to fail, ready to grow, and ready to try.

I took that opportunity, and it wasn’t perfect, but it was mine. Every step I took, even the missteps, taught me something important, and through it all, I learned something. That the only way to step into your power is to stop waiting and start acting. Own your choices, no matter how small they seem.

If you’re feeling stuck, like I did, start by taking one tiny step. Write, speak up, and question the things you’ve been told. Stop waiting for some magical moment. You create the moment. Even when it’s messy, even when it’s not perfect, it’s yours. That’s where growth happens.

Your story matters. You are the one who holds the pen. Don’t let anyone else write it for you. Every character worth knowing had to take that first step, even when they didn’t feel ready. Your life is no different. Don’t wait for permission. Take charge. Write the story you want to live. It’s the only one you get.

The power to craft your future begins with owning every part of your story. Let’s write the next chapter, together.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Series 1: The Unspoken Toll of Long-Term Unemployment: From Despair to Digital Opportunity

Unemployment is more than a financial struggle. It gnaws at your confidence, purpose, and sense of belonging slowly wearing you down. It shows up in the hesitation before answering, “What do you do?” It creeps in through the fear that your dreams are slipping through your fingers. You start questioning everything. Every rejection chips at your self-worth. The silence after another job application, the quiet weight of your family’s disappointment, and the awkward glances from friends who have moved on, and all of it piles up. You wake up each day a little unsure, a little more disconnected, and no one sees it unless they have been through it. The Post-Graduation Reality Check: When Dreams Meet Rejection I graduated at the top of my class. I had hope, plans, and this unstoppable belief that my time was coming. But graduation day wasn’t what I expected. There was no celebration and no family dinner. I stuffed my gown into a bag and walked home. The streets were full of laughter and camera...
Read more

The Art of Finding Peace in Uncertainty: How to Stay Grounded When you’re in Survival Mode

When you’re caught in the thick of it, whether between jobs, hunting for a side hustle, or simply needing a drastic change, it’s easy to let uncertainty control your every move. You wake up unsure of what the day will bring, constantly wondering if this period of instability will ever end, but uncertainty isn’t just something to survive; it’s something you can learn to navigate, even thrive in. I get it, the fear, the anxiety, and the overwhelming sense that you’re losing ground. You might not know when the storm will pass, and that's what makes it feel like you're walking a tightrope without a safety net, but there’s power in this moment, too. It’s in the space where everything feels unknown that you can start finding peace, even if it’s just in small moments. I’m not going to tell you to just breath or focus on the positive because that’s the last thing you want to hear when things are falling apart, but what I will tell you is this, the key is embracing uncertainty without...
Read more

The Financial Reality of Unemployment: More than Just a Lost Paycheck

Losing your job is one thing, but losing your financial security is something else entirely. You do not notice how much peace came from knowing rent was covered or groceries were not up for debate until that safety net is gone. Suddenly, every expense turns into a question mark and every small decision feels loaded. "Can I really afford this? Should I?" If you are unemployed, you are not alone. Whether you were laid off, just graduated into a brutal market, or stepped away for personal reasons, the pressure is real, and the silence around it makes it worse. This is not just about money but it is about what happens when your life starts revolving around lack. Let us talk about it. The Daily Stress No One Warns You About Groceries, bus fare, rent, they used to be part of the routine but now they feel like negotiations. You stop grabbing that morning coffee, you ration your subscriptions, and you walk when you are tired, skip meals when you are not full, and say "no...
Read more

From Graduate to Freelancer: The Hard Truth No One Tells You

I thought freelancing would feel like freedom. I would sleep in, work in sweats, and sip coffee like a CEO while clients lined up for a slot. What I got instead was a laptop that never shuts down, deadlines that do not wait, and an inbox that suddenly forgets I exist whenever I need it most. I jumped into freelancing after months of hearing nothing. There were no job interviews or callbacks. It was just me sending applications into the void, wondering if anyone was even hiring or if I had missed some secret memo on how to get picked. I was done waiting. I had to make something shake even if I had to build it from scratch. No one tells you how shaky this road is. One month, I was buried in work. The next, I was refreshing my inbox like it owed me rent. There is no structure, no sick days, and no backup. I was pretending to have it all together while quietly patching holes, chasing invoices, calculating exchange rates, stretching coins, and all of it. Figuring Out How to Stand Out ...
Read more

The Invisible Toll of Unemployment on Relationships

Unemployment hits hard. It’s not just the money that gets cut off but it's the whole world that starts to feel different. People you were once close to start slipping away. At first, it’s subtle, like a text goes unanswered, or an invite gets lost in the shuffle, and then, it grows. Conversations get awkward, and your place in the group feels like it’s been taken up by someone else who has their life together . It stings, especially when you start to believe it’s your fault. It feels like everyone’s moving forward, building careers and futures, while you’re stuck in a cycle of rejection and self-doubt. You’re not alone in this feeling. The isolation isn’t just about being alone but it’s about the change in the way others see you. When you’re unemployed, you feel like you’re invisible. You’re just a person without a job, without a title, and without an offer. What happens is that it’s not only your job that gets lost but it’s your identity, too. People start seeing you differently....
Read more

Series 6: The Quiet Return: Finding Yourself Again

The Ones Who Forgot You Held Them Some endings are invisible. Some beginnings feel like remembering. This is the quiet return to yourself. A reflection on loyalty, silent sacrifice, and the quiet strength it takes to keep showing up when your presence gets rewritten out of the story. This is for the ones who spent hours on the phone, who let people into their space, and who gave without ever needing to be seen, for anyone who knows what it means to hold someone up and be forgotten in the retelling. Something cracks inside when the person you once carried starts rewriting history like you never existed. They talk louder now, move different, like struggle never touched them. You see the confidence, the curated strength, but behind all that noise, you remember the version they don’t talk about, the version that once leaned on you, borrowed your belief when theirs ran out, the one who needed help building, and you gave it without hesitation. You didn’t do it to keep score. You re...
Read more

Healing While Broke Is Its Own Kind of Pain

No one talks about healing when you are still struggling to pay bills, and when your phone buzzes with a job rejection and your heart sinks, not just from the no, but from how familiar that no has become. This version of healing is not curated. It does not come with soft music or scented candles. It looks like choking back tears during a call you cannot afford to miss. It sounds like saying “I’m fine” when you are anything but because people expect you to keep it together, especially when you still need them. Therapy costs more than your monthly food budget, journaling feels like a luxury, and sleep is something you only get when the anxiety takes a night off. Most nights, it does not. So you learn how to sit with yourself, how to hold the silence without letting it swallow you, and how to talk yourself down when shame creeps in, shame for not being further, shame for needing help, and shame for believing in things that never worked out. You notice things now. How quick you are to apol...
Read more

When Unemployment Messes With Your Mind

Unemployment isn't just about losing a paycheck; it's about losing a rhythm, a sense of belonging. Days blur together, mornings feel hollow, and the silence becomes deafening. You scroll past job postings with a mix of hope and dread. Rejection emails arrive like clockwork, each one a fresh sting. Slowly, you start to shrink, avoiding conversations, dodging the dreaded question: “So, what do you do?” I've been there. The hardest part wasn't just the empty bank account; it was the creeping doubt, whispering that I'd failed, and that I wasn't good enough. After dozens of ignored applications, I stopped trying. It was easier to numb the disappointment than face another, “Unfortunately, we have chosen another candidate.” Then I realized that unemployment isn't a life sentence; it's a season, and seasons change. Climbing Out: How I Rebuilt My Confidence The way back wasn't easy, but it was possible. Here's what helped: I rejected the shame. Unemployme...
Read more

Unemployment and Self-worth

The hardest part about being unemployed is not always the money but it’s everything that comes with it. The awkward invitations you have to dodge, the polite lies you start telling, and the slow, silent weight of feeling like you are falling behind while the world just keeps moving. You start calculating the cost of every outing like it is a math exam. Friends talk about brunch plans, and your brain goes straight to your bank balance. You hear someone say, “It’s just coffee,” and you wonder what it feels like when coffee does not mean sacrifice . People assume you are free because you are not working. Free for errands, free for favors, and free for emotional labor. And it is not just the requests but it’s the way they ask, the way they phrase advice like judgments: “Have you tried X?” “So-and-so is doing Y, maybe you should try that.” You nod, smile, excuse yourself with “I’m resting,” even when what you really mean is, “I am trying not to break.”  Eventually, something ...
Read more

The End of One Chapter; The Start of Another

To Anyone Who’s Been There Unemployment shaped me in ways I could not predict. It broke me, humbled me, and built me. It taught me how to survive with nothing, how to rebuild without a map, and how to see clearly when everything felt dark. For a long time, I thought I was the only one struggling this hard, but the more I shared, the more I saw how common this pain is. We just do not talk about it, and when we do, we sugarcoat it. This series was never just about me. It was about you: the one silently scrolling in the middle of the night, the one staring at rejection emails wondering what went wrong, the one pretending everything is fine while carrying the weight of being unemployed and unseen, the one between jobs trying to figure out what is next, the one hunting for a side hustle that might actually work, the one craving change but stuck in place. You are not lazy, unlucky, or failing, but you are in a season that tests everything and teaches even more. I learned that struggles revea...
Read more