“Every day isn’t always good, but there is always something good in every day!”
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I read that quote yesterday and it really was just what I needed to hear!
It brought me back down to earth, reminding how easy it is to get caught up in the negative. It’s so, so, so easy to always focus on the bad, whatever the situation might be. (Bad weather, misplacing something, losing your job, a mistake you made, getting lost, getting sick, disagreeing with someone, someone leaves you or does something that hurts you, etc – the list goes on and on and on!) This is something I have been really working on in my own life; trying to see the good in everything, even the not so positive situations. Holy moly – sometimes it’s really, really hard!
I’ve learned that we have a choice: we can focus on the positive or we can focus on the negative.
We can choose to see situations in life as an opportunity to learn, the grow, to expand our expectations…or we can see these situations as punishment, bad luck or play the role of a victim.
It’s our choice! It’s up to us make our life what we want it to be. Deciding how to view the world around us plays a HUGE role in that.
I have discovered, that with practice, we can train our brains to think differently. It’s amazing to me how the simple (or actually not so simple!) act of changing your mind can change your life.
By mindfully choosing to focus on the good, to learn, to grow – in every situation, eventually it starts to happen naturally.
I’m not saying we should all walk around, always happy and bubbly, always positive, never admitting we might be having a bad day. Obviously stuff happens. Bad stuff! Really bad stuff. Sometimes we are in a bad mood. Sometimes life just plain sucks and it isn’t always fair. And that is ok! That is more than ok. We need to go through the downs in order for there to be UPS! We need the darkness to be able to see the light! Life is about both of them. Part of the process is going through the bad stuff. Allowing yourself to feel all of your feelings and process your emotions. It’s really hard and no one likes going through that stuff, but it’s all necessary! What I’m talking about is acknowledging how we feel about what’s happening (and FEEL it!) and then to learn from it and choosing to see the good – even in the bad stuff.
Something I’ve been working on is to try to not label things, people or situations as good or bad. There is no good or bad. It is what it is. I have the choice to learn from the things I’m going through (growing and changing) or I can stay stuck and play the victim. Sometimes I stay stuck. And that’s ok! I just wasn’t ready to learn the lesson yet. But by not thinking of things as good or bad, it does help change my perspective, no matter what I’m facing. It helps me to slow down and not jump to conclusions or react inappropriately. It gives me more time to process my feelings and emotions. It makes it easier to stay positive.
Every situation we come across in life is there to teach us something. We can choose to learn the lesson in front of us or we can stay stuck. Every situation we come across we also have a choice! We can choose to focus on the positive or we can dwell on the negative.
No matter what you might be going through, try to find the good in the situation. I know it’s there! Just find one thing. Start there and slowly you’ll start to realize all the amazingness that is around you always – in everything and everyone!
Peacefully Present 