Once upon a time, many years ago, WAY before I knew of the tools and resources available to me to change this, I saw life from a different perspective. In fact, it’s safe to say I was a completely different person.
I always had something to complain about. Something was always happening to me that wasn’t my fault.
I always had someone else to get angry with when things didn’t go my way.
We all evolve and change as we grow up; that’s a natural part of life. And since I’ve been living in adulthood (really since around age 28ish, when I started making said tools and resources, like daily meditation for example, crucial parts of my daily routine) I’ve noticed a tremendous difference across the happiness levels across people I know.
(This is what happens when you become self aware. You’re also aware of everything else going on around you).
There’s really no rhyme or reason behind it, either. Some are incredibly wealthy, but had terrible upbringings.
Some are living paycheck to paycheck. Some are in far worse health than others. Some have been through the ringer and back ten fold.
Yet somehow these exact people are able to go about their daily lives with an infectiously positive attitude.
Then I think of others who I DO know (these are people I try to minimize my time with as much as as possible)…those who seem to have something to complain about, ALWAYS. Like, every single day there’s a brand new issue they’re ranting about on social media.
Do you ever notice how these people always have SOME drama in their lives, no matter what?! And sure, some HAVE seen tragedy in their day and have been through hell.
Some also haven’t.
The common factor in all of this is….
We ALL have stuff we can complain about.
I could sit here and give you a laundry list of all the things that happened in my life that were fucked up and terrible and how I think they shaped me. I could sit here and wallow in my misery around dumb mistakes I made, embarrassing things I’ve said and all the reasons why I disagree with a lot of things a lot of people say.
I could do this ALL DAY LONG.
But really, what’s the point?!
What good would it do?
What would this accomplish?
I’ll tell you what it WON’T do. It WON’T change anything. It WON’T make me, or anyone else around me, any happier.
In fact, it will bring everyone (myself included) DOWN. It WON’T help anything or anyone.
So, for me, my bad attitude vanished when I decided I would choose to see all the shitty stuff that’s happened in my life as happening FOR me, not TO me.
All of these things…all of the dark places I’ve gone to…all the loved ones close to me I’ve lost…all of the times I reacted to situations by lashing out at others…they ALL TAUGHT ME SOMETHING.
Take ANYTHING that’s happened in your life and CHOOSE to see it from a new perspective…one that’s positively shaped you in some way…you’ve got it. That’s the secret sauce to living a happy and fulfilled AF life.
xo, al