It takes hard work to keep a positive outlook but we can all do it with a little work.
This can be tough in many ways. We’ve been conditioned to think about what we don’t have thanks to modern marketing. We want so much (marterial things) and we don’t focus on what we have. We compare ourselves to others around us and those we see on television. Talk about unrealistic, that’s just setting yourself up to fail.
Reality is frequently inaccurate.
Douglas Adams
I remember reading a small book some time back that might have been called The Present. The present wasn’t a material thing we received. It’s time itself. It’s like not being able to ‘see what in front of you’. We gloss over happiness, good, wonderful, meaningful, etc… things in our lives.
So how do we see these things or even better yet experience these things? We first have to be open to them. Sounds crazy, right but I know I’ve had this problem. I wasn’t ready to hear some good news at work recently. Then a slowly I started being receptive the hearing the compliments from the people around me. Talk about a wake-up call. It’s sometimes a real rush of emotions when you finally HEAR what people have been telling you for possibly months.
Today I woke up kind of groggy but got myself up and started. Then I made coffee and some breakfast, did a couple of small chores before going out for a walk. While I was out for my walk I got wrapped up in some work problems. Wrapped up isn’t the half of it really. It was emotional. Anger was a big emotional driver.
I was all kinds of ready to light a match and burn the whole thing down. That’s not good in so many ways. Not only does it not fix or help the problems but would only drive a larger wedge or make the problems more complex. So after my walk, I got to do some other chores and those feelings started to let up. I just needed to redirect my attention and do something active that represented an accomplishment. That sense of accomplishment was really a game-changer.
It’s occurred to me that having a positive outlook/attitude/view is a habit. Meaning it’s backed up with actions and behaviors. If you want to be positive you have to think positive, smile, and open to goodness. If you fail at work some look at it as a failure. You can turn that around and discuss what you learned. Learning from our mistakes is part of what I teach every day. You are potentially more educated on the topic now than someone else. Would they know how to handle it?
Here as I sit writing my blog post about the day and week I’ve had I can sense the accomplishments I’ve had. It’s been a great week. I got 2 department recognition awards this week and had a further discussion on my career path at work. That’s not to mentioned some great spent with my partner and some amazing dinners, and the beautiful day here in San Francisco.
Civilized life, you know, is based on a huge number of illusions in which we all collarborate willingly. The trouble is we forget after a while that they are illusions, and we are deeply shocked when reality is torn down around us.
J, G. Ballard
So much of our lives, we build these illusions and we lose touch with reality. Sometimes people are trying to escape their reality. Well, that reality isn’t going to change by ignoring it. We have to reach out and act on the problem. That’s not always easy I know but normally we can take a small step in making it better. It’s like that joke “you know how to eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” Well, our problems aren’t normally resolved with a single action. Depending on how long you’ve been avoiding your problem it could quite a few actions.
So remember to smile and think about what you do have. Start with we’re here. Just being here takes an immense effort not to be Darwin’s weakest link. The weak perish and aren’t here. So smile and go forth in your day looking for the things you have and be open to the good that may come your way.
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