How YOU are standing in the way of your own happiness

How many times have you caught yourself talking your way out of plans? I know I do it all the time. When faced with an outing with friends or a night of dancing, I find myself making up excuses like “I really don’t want to go out until after my hair appointment next week” or “I don’t want to be seen with this huge zit on my face” or my favorite “I’ll be too tired the next day and won’t feel like doing anything”. All of those excuses are valid points and might cause any reasonable person to ditch their Friday night plans in favor of Netflix or a hot bath, but what a lot of people don’t realize is how destructive these thoughts truly are.
When you start allowing a thought of what might be control what will be, you are contributing to your own self destruction.
For example: The excuse “I’ll be too tired the next day and won’t feel like doing anything”. You don’t know that for sure. Your group of friends might end up leaving early and you could end up going to bed at a usual time. Or maybe you will stay out late and lose a few hours of sleep. During that time you will be surrounded by people you enjoy being around, and the memories you make in that night will last much longer than the tiredness you feel the next morning.
Another example: “I really don’t want to go out until after my hair appointment next week”. How do you know there is every going to be a hair appointment next week? Things happen, and even cosmetologists call in sick every now and again. What if you don’t end up going to your hair appointment for two weeks? Not only have you missed a chance to see your friends, but you’ve passed up the chance to make valuable new memories and maybe even meet some new friends. And plus, all of these people have probably already seen you with roots extending an inch from your scalp – why should this particular time be forbidden? 
I had potential plans on Saturday night, and found myself using the excuse “I don’t want anyone to see my braces”. While I was waiting to find out the rest of the details, I decided that my excuse was really really stupid. What, am I just going to avoid public outings for the next year? What kind of sense does that make? My plans ended up falling through, but I decided that I wouldn’t allow my appearance to hold me back from life any more. There are so many things that can hold you back if you let them: your height, your weight, bra size, shoe size, financial situation, etc. Do not allow yourself to be restricted by things that most people won’t notice or care about.