This is Optimal Living Daily Episode 1549.

Self-discovery is a kind of self-respect by Veronica Tugalava of Veronica.org,

anime narrator Justin Mollick reading you blogs every single day of the year to help you live a more

meaningful life. The show covers self-help or personal development, productivity, motivation,

inspiration, and a lot more. And it'll keep this intro short, so let's get right to today's post

as we optimize your life.

Self-discovery is a kind of self-respect by Veronica Tugalava of Veronica.org.

Sometimes I don't realize how far I've come until I look back. I had one of those moments

this week. A few days ago I began to feel irritated while I was writing, so I got dressed and went

on a walk just to air my head out to think. No music, no podcasts, just my thoughts. Maybe that

doesn't sound like a big accomplishment to you, but in my life, that's been a mind-blowing shift.

I grew up in a family that would push, push, push me. I learned to push, push, push myself.

I thought this was a superpower. Of course, I ignored all the things I couldn't do because I couldn't

pull back. I realized that learning to walk away is so important. It sounds so simple, but it's

not always easy in practice. I have a long history of misinterpreting my messages to myself.

I had problems over eating. The more I ate, the more uncomfortable I'd feel,

but eating was my emotional coping mechanism, so I tried to eat away the discomfort of overeating.

I couldn't walk away from a conversation. I couldn't emotionally detach. I felt like if I left,

everything would fall apart. Oftentimes, there's the other way around. I couldn't take breaks.

If I felt irritated sitting at my computer, I'd take that irritation to mean work harder.

I couldn't take time to myself. If I felt uncomfortable around people, I interpreted this to

mean that I needed them to pay more attention to me. It's taking me a long time to realize that

...