Why must people be so angry and confrontational all the time?
Why do we feel a need to attack the beliefs of others is a brutal and cruel way?
Why are we so quick to complain about our circumstances or our past or even our future?
Why are we so critical of the faults we see in others and in anything around us?
Why is it so hard to take a step back and evaluate something objectively?
With the exception of genuine mental illness, I’m a firm believer that 95% of your happiness in this life is made up of your attitude. I can tell you first hand that treating depression will not make you automatically happy – it just makes it possible for you to be happy, if you choose to be.
Yesterday I made the observation to someone that being poor is more of a mental state than a financial status. I am flat BROKE, but I do not consider myself “poor.” The person I was speaking with agreed and responded that health can often be viewed in the same way. For instance, I used to be a hypochondriac – and I was never healthy. Now that I’ve overcome that, I consider myself to be very healthy… even though I still have some of the same health problems I had before. But I FEEL healthy, whereas I didn’t previously.
I think that one of the greatest lessons I’ve learned thus far in life is that my history and my present circumstances do not, and should never define who I am. It doesn’t matter where I came from, where I am, how much money I have, what my relationship status is, how my family dynamic was, or how much education I have. Every second of every day, I have the opportunity to choose who I AM. I can play the victim role, the hero role, the jaded role, or I can throw all that in the trash can, and continue onward with optimism and enthusiasm, ever grateful for all of the wonderful things that I do have, even when I can’t think of many.
All too often, I think people are victims of themselves and their attitudes… and this frustrates me a little bit. We all have issues, and pretty much everyone has experienced deep hurt that you will never know about. Pain and challenges are essential parts of life. Those who have known me for a while or who have talked to me more in-depth are aware of some of my past struggles – some of which I thought would surely be the end of me. Believe it or not, I really don’t think about any of that any more. I don’t. If anything, I look back to those experiences with gratitude because of the powerful lessons that I learned through them.
Life has made me wiser, gentler, more patient, more understanding, more compassionate, more considerate, and more open-minded. Bit by bit, life is teaching me what it really means to love in every capacity, and how important that is. I’ll be the first to admit that I have a loooong way to go on this one, but I can see the progress that I’ve made.
When chemicals are cooperating, my happiness in this life is predominantly determined by my attitude. Even when things aren’t going well, I can still be happy underneath it all, and that is amazing.
WOOHOO!!!This is a lesson I’m still learning, but you’re absolutely right. We can’t control what happens to us, but we can control our attitude about it and what we DO about it. And that’s where people get tripped up; they really believe that they are powerless to do anything, when there is so much opportunity in front of them, regardless of the curveballs that have been thrown their way (or fastballs thrown at their head).All you have to do is pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and go after it. May not be fun or easy, but man is it worth it.
your an inspiration christine.