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| Not a bad life! |
When someone asks me how I would describe my life, I always respond it has been great!
“Great?”, a friend recently asked me. “How can you say that? I know your history, and I cannot understand how you can consider it great,” she went on.
How do I explain that for me, life started when I became an adult. I discount my childhood. Without going into detail, let’s just say I was not in control of any portion of my life and there were a lot of hurts. So much so that even as a small child, I was telling myself that when I grow up I was going to be different. And I am.
Oh, there was still a journey I had to take to release all the baggage, but I worked at it with determination and surrounded by a person who loved me and gave me room to grow. You see I knew that if I hung on to the garbage that was filling me, I only cheated myself out of a life that was worth living. And I not only believed I deserved a chance at a better life, I wanted it and was willing to work for it.
Throughout my writings, I speak of attitude a lot. That is because I have discovered in my own journey that bad things happen to good people. I would love to think I could take my experience and teach the world a better way, but instead what I found is that I can be a light for someone else traveling through a dark journey. I can live in such a way that shows you can overcome the worst of humanity and still carve out a happy place for yourself. You just have to want it and be willing to work for it…and especially find the courage to let go of the pain. The last part can be the toughest and scariest part for some, but believe me when I say, if you can find the courage to take responsibility for your own actions, life can be sweet.
No one’s life is perfect. Everyone has bad days, shed tears, sink in occasional despair, find they have to walk away from situations or people that bring them down, but creating an attitude of self-determination and the willingness to let go of those things that bring harm to our spirit is a gift to yourself.
A friend once said to me, “A negative mind will never give you a positive life.” I found that to be true. Thinking that way does not make one delusional. On the contrary, I find that when I look for the good in everyone, see the sunshine on a cloudy day, make the best of any situation, and keep my expectations for life in check, then I am not only better off, I feel happier too.
In the end, is that not what we all want out of life? Carving out that personal corner of the world where we can linger in peace, harmony, not surrounding ourselves with “things” but instead surrounding ourselves with people who bring light to our life and the wisdom to know when to let go of those that don’t. This for me is what feeds me the joy in living. This for me is what carries me forward.
I’ll leave you with two of favorite quotes.
“Don’t look back. You are not going that way.”
and
“The three “C’s” in life are:
Choice, Chance, Change.
You must make the Choice,
To Take the Chance,
If you want anything in
Life to Change.”
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