I have a friend going through a rough patch. As often happens during times like these, they want to make some changes… But people won’t let them.

“We’ve heard this before” they say. “We’ve had these conversations before.” I get that.

But when the person takes actual steps, makes moves in the right direction, is proactive and tries to change things for the better, the same people scoff at the progress. Or when something clicks in the head of the person that wants to change and they finally see a situation clearly, the people around them try to manipulate and guilt them back into their predefined hole. These folks cloak themselves in passive-aggressiveness that they can’t even see. They make it about them, because it never occurs to them that the person who is breaking out of the fog might actually have a fucking point.

People need to grow. If you choose to remain in your small patch of the world, fine, do that. But don’t grow vines to hold other people in place with you. That’s bullshit and it’s incredibly selfish.

For anyone that wants to change, it’s hard. And it’s as easy to fall as playing a game of naked baby oil Twister. Changing is a lot of falling and getting back up.

If you follow me on social media, you’ve seen me post the quote you see below. Even now, when I am happier than I’ve ever been in my life, some days are hard and stressful and it seems like I’ll never get home to my family. And there are days where I want to shirk all responsibility and do nothing. When those days happen, I remember this quote.

And then I get up and go be an ocean.

With a little effort, you can too.