​​My daughter Sydney reluctantly woke me up at 4am last night asking to stay with me because there was a mosquito in her room.

Bleary-eyed, I pulled her into bed with me (she’s 16 now, so I now enjoy every second of these middle-of-the-night wake ups…she’ll fly off too soon.)

I remember her saying something like this:

“That mosquito was in my room last week too and I woke up with mosquito bites all over my arm! I just don’t want that to happen again. So I moved.”

There you have it.

She got up. She decided she didn’t want itchy, annoying welts the next day. She took charge. And she moved.

Do you do this?

Maybe you get up and move for an annoying mosquito that plagues at your arms and legs while you're trying to get your ZZZs.

But do you take charge like this for the rest of the annoying - or even unhealthy - things in your life?

Do you have an annoying task — or maybe a toxic person - that’s like your very own personal mosquito?

It’s all too easy to stay and deal with the welts on your proverbial arm, and quietly manage the annoying bumps it leaves on your skin (and your soul).

Maybe you complain inside your mind, or to a friend, even as it/he/she continues buzzing in your ear, making you want to just crawl out of your skin.

What about doing what Sydney did instead?

What if you "left the room,” and just decided not to deal with it/he/she anymore? What if you chose another option that doesn’t mean kill the sucker, but just reminded you of your power to choose a different way.

Your way.

Maybe you capture it in a jar and put it on a high shelf, out of immediate sight.

Or open a window, giving it the option to fly away on its own.

It’s your life after all. Your days, your energy, your heart, your mind.

As the two of us fell back to sleep, I wondered why we sometimes keep itching and forget we have the power to choose and change.

I know, I know, it’s not always an option to walk away from someone that is in your daily life, but you can definitely change how you respond.

You can change how much of the words, emotions, energy you actually let in.

It’s not easy, and you might feel even more exhausted than she did at 4am, but trust me if it’s annoying or worse - it might be time to get up and leave the room.

With fierce love,
Alison