Every day we stand at a crossroads, we can either choose to spend our time, energy, and efforts complaining and in so doing act as victims or we can choose to live life to the fullest and be the creators of it.
What do you mostly do on a regular basis?
Do you complain all the time or do you feel happy no matter what?
Is your glass half empty or half full?
Do you tell yourself that you are capable of everything or that you are not good enough?
You see, happiness, as well as unhappiness, is a choice.
It’s thoroughly up to you how you look at your life and ultimately how you live it.
It doesn’t matter what happens to you, what really matters is what you do about it!
What matters is the meaning you give to any moment and situation you experience.
“No matter what happens to you in your life, you alone have the capacity to choose your response to it”. - Robin S. Sharma
There was a time when my focus was mainly on the downsides, my glass was half empty.
Acting as a victim led me to feel miserable.
The more I whined and complained, the more I missed out on the blessing of being alive.
Only when I started changing perspective and changing my focus did I start switching, and seeing my glass finally half full.
Here is an example of how we can describe a day in our life to clarify what I mean:
“This morning I woke up at 7 am, as usual, ready to go to work, but my car engine wouldn’t start, so I decided to walk 3 miles to get to my workplace.
When I got there my computer wouldn’t turn on and so I had to call the IT department.
They were busy, so they couldn’t fix the issue immediately, and I had to wait a couple of hours to be able to use my computer.
On my way back home, after a full working day, it started pouring down”.
What I have just described is a day that most people would describe as a nightmare.
But, let’s change the outlook and highlight the upsides to it instead of the downsides!
“Waking up early is not a curse, but a blessing, since I have a job that enables me to pay for the house I live in, for my car, my shopping, my bills, my holiday, and my education.
Many people are not as lucky as me as they are made redundant, and find themselves without an income overnight.
My car break-down may seem a misfortune, but it is not, after all, many people cannot afford to have a car.
What’s more, nothing lasts forever, let alone an old car, whose replacement was long overdue.
Walking 3 miles to work and 3 miles back boosted my endorphins and made me feel positive and energetic.
Realizing it took me to the conclusion to walk to work every day, which in turn will help me keep fit and healthy.
Being forced to wait for the IT people to fix my computer gave me the chance to help my colleagues, who felt understood and happy that someone reached out and lent them a hand.
As a result, they suggested we met for a drink the following weekend.
So, I felt happy too, because not only did I do my daily good deed and contribute to someone else’s life, but my relationships with my colleagues will improve”.
If you happened to read my post - What you give you receive - you know what I am speaking about!
“Remember that the happiest people are not those getting more, but those giving more”. - H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
“The pouring rain on my way back home didn’t annoy me because I no longer “trust” the English weather and I always take an umbrella with me.
So, I enjoyed the sound of the raindrops, as well as the smell of the wet ground”.
You see, switching our outlook on life, and considering fulfilling what most people would regard as miserable is simple!
Way too often we focus on what doesn’t work in our life.
We focus on the black dot and disregard the wide surrounding white surface, as a result, we feel unhappy and we end up thinking that life is unfair to us.
And the more we do it, the more we reinforce the vicious circle - complaining and feeling miserable!
So, what can we do?
Let’s establish a powerful habit, that is, let’s start being grateful and giving thanks!
This enables us to keep our attention on what works in our life, rather than on what doesn’t.
Start from the basics!
Be grateful for the roof over your head, the hot running water and electricity in your home, and your daily meals.
Don’t take these things for granted - thousands of people are homeless or starving to death!
And then carry on applying gratitude to all the other blessings in your life.
Remember that no matter how hard life hits you, you always have the power to choose how to look at it, and how to respond to it.
If you still have any doubts about the principle that after all what happens to you does not matter, since what really matters is the way you respond to it, watch the following video and your doubts will vaporize.
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It’s good to be grateful for things that seem ordinary. Like the hot shower you mentioned- when I moved to England I had no hot shower for months and I had no money to move out.
I don’t complain about that period. It’s helps me appreciate what I have now.
Thank you for your thoughts
Thanks for sharing a brief part of your past Mikolaj. I love that you don’t complain about that period, on the contrary, you are grateful for what you have now, and you appreciate it much more.
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