Are you a person who views the cup as half full or half empty?
Personally, I view life to be wondrous. Even though we go through times of suffering, it really comes down to our perceptions. How we translate events and situations into our personal lives play a huge role in our happiness. When we process new information, we have two choices: resistance or acceptance. And people who choose to accept and roll with the punches of life are generally happier people.
When you choose the path of resistance it creates a field of negative energy. When something doesn’t go your way, you may ask yourself “why me??” and beat yourself up by dwelling over the moment. People who tend to roll with the flow of life typically do not react with resistance. They simply think, “Okay, this is happening for a reason.” Or they look for the opportunities in any given situation or just soak it up as a lesson learned. Yet either way, they continue moving forward.
Don’t stress over what is out of your control.
You can’t sit and dwell on past events or things you wish you could have done differently. You simply accept it and move forward. Every morning when you wake up you are a clean slate. You choose how your day is going to go with the attitude you opt for when you wake up. If you rise up dreading the day, chances are you are already going to have a shitty day because that’s the energy you are attracting into your life. And trust me when I say this, a negative mindset can brutally hinder all the simple joys that life has to offer.
It always boggles my mind when I come into contact with someone who can look at a beautiful blue sky with white puffy clouds all around and feel absolutely nothing. I personally couldn’t even fathom or imagine what a life like that must be like. God’s aesthetic beauty is here for us to enjoy, and all of us are a part of his creation. Yet, some tend to drift away from their eternal connection due to a misinterpretation of everyday life. We start to believe that we are limited and conform to past paradigms that we’ve been taught as the proper way to navigate through life as a human. And in this process, our bewilderment to this world that we all had as we entered as a child, slowly diminishes.
Break the mundane and have faith.
I can remember (back in the day) feeling just like that. It was toward the end of my five-year tenure of being a brand manager for the retail store Express. Even though I loved the people and the creative outlet I worked within, I used to drive to work literally comparing my life to Bill Murray’s character in Groundhog Day. I specifically remember pulling into the mall parking lot and questioning my whole existence. ‘Is this my life?’ I was so caught up in the mundane of everyday life and working full-time just for a paycheck that there was no luster left in me.
I had become too comfortable in life. And as the phrase goes “nothing great ever came from comfort zones,” I knew I had to get past my fear of transitioning into a more advanced work environment. Thankfully I listened and challenged myself to go after a marketing director position back in 2010, which led to a successful career as a sales/marketing professional. (Yes, I actually ended up using my college degree!)
You see, we all have the ability to change our lives and create better opportunities for ourselves, but it comes down to whether you believe in yourself enough to surpass your fears. When you start to change your mindset, the way you look at things begin to change too. We will never be in control of life’s daily tiffs that are thrown at us, but we can control how we choose to react. There is no point in stressing over things that are out of your control. You simply need to let go and have faith in your intentions and trust that what will be done will be done for the greater good.
We all come from the same eternal source. I don’t care if your Buddhist, Catholic, Muslim, Baptist, you name it- we are all one. And when we build each other up through love and kindness, people flourish. Did you know that just one random act of kindness can boost serotonin levels in others and yourself? As Dr. Wayne Dyer said, “Our souls come from a dimension in space where only Love is known.” If you are down in life and can’t see anything beautiful in it anymore, then I suggest you take a hike in nature and sit in silence for 15 minutes to reconnect. Having a grateful heart is everything. When we are appreciative of what we have now and wake up in gratitude for your life just as it is, we begin to see the world differently and live a life from a cup half full perspective.
Like attracts like energy, and you get in return what you put out.
When we change our energy and see the positives in our lives, the more positive things you will attract into your life. When you reach this mentality and the realization that you are an eternal being capable of attracting all things into your life, then life’s little punches begin to roll right off your shoulder. It all becomes so trivial when compared to the greater plan of infinity.
I always think of my best friend who lives in New York City and how he somehow always manages to lose his cell phone or credit card during a night out with me (lol go figure). However, I am always so impressed by how he handles the situation. (And as a funny side note, one time he did all of the work in trying to locate his card to find me later at dinner pulling out my wallet and saying, ‘Um, this isn’t my card??’ His response, ‘Because it’s mine, OMG ERICA, CANNOT!). Yet, he never changes his mood or puts stress upon anyone else. Of course, I guess that time if he did put some stress on me I might have looked in my wallet for it, haha. But, he simply focuses on fixing the problem without dwelling on the loss and moves forward.
Live with a mind that is open to all ideas.
I always agree with Dr. Wayne Dyer’s philosophy on life and the following is one of my favorite quotes from his writings. “Live with a mind that is open to everything but attached to nothing.” We will all possess and gain material things during this life, but just remember, you leave it with none of them. Until next time, always be kind.
Erica xx
PS shop the look below images 🙂
ALL IMAGES: RICHARD CRANK
