Ten months ago I began a journey of practicing mindfulness every day and we've reached day 319. Yesterday, I talked about how progress comes naturally given enough time and effort. Today is a new day.
It's about making a choice. Stephen Hawking, who prior to losing his body mentioned saying he didn't really take life all that seriously, decided to focus on his mind and put in the effort to become one of the most influential physicists of the modern age. Most people who face adversity end up getting stuck, but every blue moon you'll get a Jay-Z who went from rags to riches (current net worth $810 million). Every now and then you'll get an Oprah Winfrey, who became a national treasure despite growing up from nothing (current net worth $3 billion).
A lot of our lives depends on whether we choose to go on feeling defeated or not. Bad things happen to everyone, but those who choose to not let that bring them down and refuse to feel sorry for themselves are the ones who stand a chance at overcoming it. That might sound harsh, but everyone needs a bit of tough love.
In letting yourself fall back on what's going wrong, you're basically denying any responsibility and putting the blame entirely on something else. That may not always be the case, but the point is to frame your mind in a way that owns up to everything and makes an effort to overcome it. For example, my conversational Japanese is pretty good. I can get by without too much trouble, but I my reading and writing skills are terrible. I'm not fluent in Japanese because kanji is "too hard" or there are "too many". That's just an excuse. Instead, I'm not fluent because I haven't put in the effort to actually study and practice kanji every day. I have no excuse for not learning kanji. I can buy study guides, I can use google translate, I can buy books, I can go to events and ask people to teach me.
Where there's a will, there's a way. Likewise, any problem we have can be solved with the right mentality. Programs like Alcoholics Anonymous, which promote help by first having people admit their problems is effective because it brings that sense of responsibility to the table. Once we learn to own our lives we learn how to navigate it. Life is long, so although we may not be in a good place right now, that DOESN'T mean it has to stay that way forever. Change CAN happen and WE have to be the ones to make it.
Peace
"I've learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances." - Martha WashingtonI was watching some interviews on youtube from successful people giving their advice on how they got to where they are and a common theme is the refusal to make excuses for why you "can't". Although people do end up in the gutter sometimes, too often do I hear things like "there's no hope", "it's too late", or simply "I just can't". To me, there's always something that could be more favorable in our lives, but ultimately it's up to us whether we succeed in anything or not.
It's about making a choice. Stephen Hawking, who prior to losing his body mentioned saying he didn't really take life all that seriously, decided to focus on his mind and put in the effort to become one of the most influential physicists of the modern age. Most people who face adversity end up getting stuck, but every blue moon you'll get a Jay-Z who went from rags to riches (current net worth $810 million). Every now and then you'll get an Oprah Winfrey, who became a national treasure despite growing up from nothing (current net worth $3 billion).
A lot of our lives depends on whether we choose to go on feeling defeated or not. Bad things happen to everyone, but those who choose to not let that bring them down and refuse to feel sorry for themselves are the ones who stand a chance at overcoming it. That might sound harsh, but everyone needs a bit of tough love.
In letting yourself fall back on what's going wrong, you're basically denying any responsibility and putting the blame entirely on something else. That may not always be the case, but the point is to frame your mind in a way that owns up to everything and makes an effort to overcome it. For example, my conversational Japanese is pretty good. I can get by without too much trouble, but I my reading and writing skills are terrible. I'm not fluent in Japanese because kanji is "too hard" or there are "too many". That's just an excuse. Instead, I'm not fluent because I haven't put in the effort to actually study and practice kanji every day. I have no excuse for not learning kanji. I can buy study guides, I can use google translate, I can buy books, I can go to events and ask people to teach me.
Where there's a will, there's a way. Likewise, any problem we have can be solved with the right mentality. Programs like Alcoholics Anonymous, which promote help by first having people admit their problems is effective because it brings that sense of responsibility to the table. Once we learn to own our lives we learn how to navigate it. Life is long, so although we may not be in a good place right now, that DOESN'T mean it has to stay that way forever. Change CAN happen and WE have to be the ones to make it.
Make the change you wanna see
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| Even if it takes a while, it's on us to make it happen. |
What changes are you working toward?
ReplyDeleteHave a great day~