Get rid of the handcuffs: It’s all in your head

It’s all in your head!

You got that right! So, what’s swimming around in your head? Believe me, I’ve been recovering from a complete knee replacement for the past eight weeks or so. Often, I’ve found that the limitations I’ve placed on myself are in my head. Fears, concerns, lies, constraints, boundaries. Some of them are real, and some of them are made up, but all of them have served to hold me back.

Guess what? You’ve got things running around your head that are holding you back too.

Many things can limit you, hold you back, and keep you from becoming what God has intended you to be. But the one with the biggest handcuffs is you and me. It’s all in your head — and mine! You can decide to stay where you are, or you can choose to go through it. Either way, it’s a choice.

As Ken Coleman says, “You aren’t stuck. You have decided to stay there.” I don’t know about you, but that resonates with me. It’s a wake-up call.

The things in your head likely come from past experiences, often built up over time. In other words, you’ve trained yourself to understand why you can’t do something, or you’ve believed the lies you’ve heard from someone else or told yourself.

Complete transparency here. One of my struggles has been getting in and out of the hot tub at our house. Because of my bad knees and other physical issues, I’ve told myself I need help, so my wife has given me a hand, and I’ve placed a chair next to the hot tub for something to hold onto. (By the way, there is no rail or other handles. You have to walk up and down without any support.). So for the past couple of weeks, I’ve sat down on a rock and swiveled into the hot tub to soak my back and knees. Ahhh!

I’ve told myself the lies that I need help. It’s emblazoned in my head because of years of bad knees, back, and insecurity. Yesterday, I walked right out of the hot tub, and guess what? No problem. Indeed, it was all in my head.

So what limitations have you placed on yourself? You probably don’t even recognize some of them because it’s been so long! So think of these five areas and dream a little. What is one thing you should be doing in these areas but have told yourself you can’t? Or won’t? Here are some examples to jog your thought process, but don’t stop with those.

• Career/business/job. 
  • “I’ll never make more money.”
  • “I’m stuck in this job.”
  • “My boss doesn’t like me.”
  • “My business will never get off the ground.
• Finances.
  • “I’ll never get out of debt.”
  • “We will never be able to retire.”
  • “It’s too late for me.”
  • “I’ll always need credit cards.”
• Relationships.
  • “I’m too old to get married.”
  • “It is what it is, and I can’t change anything or anybody.”
  • “I don’t have any friends. No one likes me.”
  • “My friends are negative, but they’re my friends.”
• Health.
  • “I want to change my eating, but it’s too hard.”
  • “I want to exercise, but there’s no time.”
  • “Look, I’m big-boned, so it is what it is.”
  • “My grandmother and my mom had this, so I guess it’s going to happen to me too.”
  • “There’s nothing I can do.”
• Spiritual/emotional well-being.
  • “God doesn’t like me.”
  • “People really don’t care about me.”
  • “These things don’t happen to other people. I’m the only one.”
  • “I can’t read the Bible because I don’t understand it.”
  • Things will never change or get better.

If you can’t find at least one thing in each category, you’re probably lying to yourself still. Break out of the mold, dream a little, and then ask yourself what’s holding you back.

Like Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.” So why not think you can?

Get inside your head today and do some spring cleaning. And before you get up from reading this post, nail down one thing you can get “through” and determine to change that lie to a truth today.

It’s all in your head.