It’s
easy to get caught up in the daily grind of life, especially in today’s busy
world. With so much to worry about, from work and bills to family and social
life, even those who seem to have it all together can wake up and feel like
their lives are falling apart. When this happens, it’s extremely important that
you hit the brakes, take a look at your life, and think about what you can
change so that you’re actually living and not just going through the motions.
1. Define success on your terms
We’re
told that success is a big house, two cars in a garage, and 2.5 children to a
family. While I think most people would be happy with that, that same majority
of people absolutely despises doing what they have to do to get there. Most
people work so much that they barely have time to enjoy the fruits of their
labor. And when they do have the time, they’re so exhausted that they’d rather
just fall asleep in front of the TV than take their family out to dinner.
Figure
out what makes you feel happy and successful, rather than what society tells
you will make you so. Live your life every day so that you’re working toward
meeting the goals you’ve set for your own life, rather than running the same
rat race day after day.
2. Embrace the positives and
negatives in life
It
sounds easy to embrace the positives, right? Too often, it’s when things are
going well that we don’t recognize it. Celebrate every victory in life, no
matter how small. It will help you stay positive when things start to go wrong.
When
things do go wrong, don’t think your world is crumbling down on you. Instead,
look to what you can learn from the situation. Learn from your mistakes and
failures, and persevere through unfortunate bad times. You’ll come out of it a
much stronger person, and will be able to face the next obstacle in your life
with a clear mindset.
3. Control only what you can
You
may have heard the Serenity Prayer. There are things you can change, and if
you’re unhappy with the way things are going, you should definitely do what you
can to fix them. There are things you can’t change and, no matter what you do,
you’ll just have to accept that you’re powerless against them. But the wisdom
is in knowing which category a certain situation falls into. Don’t let
something beyond your control keep you up at night — it will only serve to
drive you crazy.
4. Don’t get frazzled
Life
is full of little annoyances that we can’t control (see above). If we paid
attention to every little thing that got in the way of us having a “good” day,
we’d never be happy. You’re going to spill your coffee sometimes. You’re going
to hit every red light on the way home from work some days. The cash register
is never working right, it wasn’t just your bad luck. Once you recognize that
Murphy’s Law is one of the only constants in life, you’ll realize things could
be much worse, and you’ll be able to let the little things fall by the wayside.
5. Love yourself
If
you don’t love yourself, no one else will. On that same token, you should never
compare your life to anyone else’s. You have no idea what they’ve been through
in their life, and they have no idea what you’ve gone through in yours. And
don’t worry if other people have something negative to say about you. People
will talk. But it’s those people who are unhappy enough with their own lives
that they have to find the negatives in other people’s lives to make themselves
feel better. Live your own life, and love every minute of it.
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