Work is stealing my time. My life. My joy.
(It’s something I’ve heard more than once.)
That’s not dramatic - it’s honest.
And honesty is a good place to start. Not to fix it. Just to name it. Sit with it. Breathe next to it, for once, instead of running on top of it like it’s not there.
So, here’s an invitation. A small one. Quiet but powerful.
Finish the sentence:
“Work is…”
“I always…”
“I can’t seem to…”
And finish it with the thought you find yourself thinking when your head’s on the pillow. Or at the end of the Sunday scaries. Or in the middle of another Zoom call you can't quite remember the point of.
Say it straight, no polish.
Because your subconscious doesn’t respond to logic. It listens for emotion. For repetition. For truth …. even if it’s only half-said.
Here are some examples I’ve heard from others:
“Work is eating my quality of life and time.”
“I always wish I was doing something where I could be creative and enjoy my days more.”
“I can’t seem to get a break.”
That’s not weakness. That’s wisdom trying to get our attention.
Let’s look again - gently, not critically.
“Work is eating my quality of life and time.”
That’s not just a statement. It’s a worldview. The mind begins to expect work to feel draining. Suffocating. Permanent. Not just hard, but life-denying.
“I always wish I was doing something creative and enjoyable.”
There’s longing here. But also distance. The wish lives in a future that never quite arrives. You’re always on the outside of the thing you want, watching it through glass.
“I can’t seem to get a break.”
This is a spell. A deep one. It trains the mind to filter for dead ends. To miss the slivers of opening because the script says: “It’s always closed to me.”
Now - here’s the part no one tells us.
We can speak back.
Not with false positivity. But with small, solid truths. Words we’d like to believe — even if only 1% more than the old story.
Try this:
“Work is becoming a source of creativity and joy.”
“The path is opening to work that suits me.”
“I am ready for - and receiving - a break.”
Not to manifest. Not to pretend. But to practise a different possibility.
Just for now, imagine this:
The way you speak to yourself becomes a path.
So ask yourself - what phrase, if said sincerely, would feel like a relief to believe? Not perfect. Not magical. Just a little more true than the old one.
Say it softly. Especially when you’re drifting off or waking up. That’s when the noise is quiet enough for a new thought to take root.
It doesn’t have to be loud. It just has to be yours.
Reflection
What phrase would feel like a relief to believe today?
What story about work have you been repeating on autopilot?
Where is there a sliver of creative possibility, already in motion?
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