You’re Allowed to Change Your Mind

Most of us don’t struggle because we don’t know what we need. We struggle because we’re afraid of what it means to admit that our needs have changed.

At some point, many people realize they’re tired—not just physically, but emotionally. Tired of pushing through. Tired of explaining themselves. Tired of pretending that something still fits when it doesn’t. And when that realization shows up, it often comes with guilt. I already committed. I should be grateful. Other people have it worse. I can’t back out now.

So we stay. We override ourselves. We tell ourselves to try harder.

But mental health doesn’t improve through self-betrayal.

There’s a moment in healing that doesn’t get talked about enough—the moment when you recognize that the version of you who made certain choices was doing their best with what they knew at the time. And the version of you standing here now knows something different. That doesn’t make the past you wrong. It means you’ve learned.

Change isn’t failure. It’s feedback.

Sometimes changing your mind is quiet. It looks like stepping outside to breathe instead of forcing yourself to stay. It looks like canceling plans without a dramatic reason. It looks like letting yourself rest before you’re completely depleted.

Other times, it’s louder. It’s admitting that a path you worked hard for no longer feels right. It’s asking for help when you’ve always been the reliable one. It’s choosing discomfort now instead of long-term resentment later.

Growth is rarely clean or linear. You don’t move forward in a straight line—you circle back, pause, question, and start again. That doesn’t erase progress. It is progress. Healing is less about becoming someone new and more about listening more honestly to who you already are.

If you’re in a place where everything in you wants to change direction but you’re afraid of what that says about you, hear this: it doesn’t say you’re weak. It says you’re paying attention.

At Better Futures, we see this moment often—the moment when someone stops asking, “What’s wrong with me?” and starts asking, “What do I need right now?” That shift matters. It’s where self-trust begins.

You are allowed to change your mind.

You are allowed to choose yourself without having all the answers.

You are allowed to build a future that fits the person you’re becoming—not the person you felt pressured to remain.

And sometimes, the most mentally healthy thing you can do is listen to that quiet inner voice and let it lead you somewhere new.