Life is hard.
Or life can be great.
It really depends on your perspective.
Two people can look at the exact same thing and each have different thoughts about it.
Take a traffic jam, for example. You could stress out about the drivers cutting in front of you, or the fact that you might be late for work. From there you would arrive at your office grumpy and late. You might then take it out on your associates and make everyone around you miserable. Then, instead of going out to a nice lunch with them, they might avoid you like the plague and let you eat that stale granola bar you’ve had in your desk for weeks.
Or you could look at it this way. Being stuck in traffic allows you to finally listen to that audio book you’ve had in your car. Or, you could call your mom and have a nice chat with her! You could sit there and be thankful for the fact that you have a job to go to, many people don’t. You arrive at work happy and ready to go and might have the most productive day you’ve ever had. Plus your associates invite you out to lunch with them and you laugh and have a wonderful time.
Which one do you prefer?
Here are a few more….
Not happy about all the household chores you have to do? This means you have a home! Many people don’t.
Going food shopping? This means you have money for food! Many people don’t.
Are you upset at all the wrinkles on your face. Getting old is a privilege NOT a guarantee. Many people won’t get the opportunity to grow old.
I could go on and on.
My point? You can’t control what life throws at you, but you sure can control how you get through it.
Listen, I’m not saying that you should be Suzy Sunshine from Sunnybrook Farms all the time. Nor am I saying that this is even possible. Sometimes you are just going to have one of those days. Being positive is like taking a shower, you have to do it every day. You have to choose it. You have to purposely say “no” to yourself and change your perspective. Some days it’s really easy to do this, and other days it takes a while. Being a seven-year breast cancer survivor, I should know because some days I had to “choose” to be happy. Wasn’t easy.
In the end though, being positive and choosing to be happy is a heck of a lot more fun than being stressed out and miserable all the time. I much prefer to laugh than cry.
You GOT this!
Katharine
