Image thanks to michael
In my last ‘You Tell Me...’ I asked: what do you do when life gets in the way of your dreams? There were some blooming-brilliant responses and it really highlighted for me that so many of us are in the same boat and how, if we just reached out a little more, we could be comforted by that fact! The topic is one I'm pretty sure we're all still wrestling with, so I thought I'd expand on it a little...
I think that it can be incredibly easy to be idealistic and, I believe, a wonderfully pure trait to see in people. But if the shine of that ideal starts to wear off and you aren’t able to roll with the punches, you might be in trouble.
One way that you can stay positive when the sun goes in for a moment is to know you’re headed somewhere. That is why goals are so important to us – because they help us to believe it’s all for a reason; that the road leads somewhere; that there will be gold at the end of the rainbow. Golly, we humans do love a guarantee.
But nothing is guaranteed. Two years ago I would most definitely not have said I’d be in the situation I am now: working a job I don’t like to pay for a lifestyle I’m not sure I’m enjoying. But life had other plans.
I think, though, that when we find the winding road between realism and positivity – life starts to be a bit more of a joy ride and less of a woe-wagon. What you do with what life dishes up; the dialogue you choose to engage in with it (because you are not living a monologue, the world has a few things it wants to tell you!) – is all about attitude.
Like today: I started today off feeling pretty miserable. I did not want to get out of bed. I did not want to go to work. I was plagued by crushing comparisons of how “popular” Charade is against some of the other blogs I read (and this was despite the fact that I’m possibly getting featured in a local newspaper and I discovered I’ve had 150,000 absolute unique visitors since this blog began – get some perspective, Megan!) What’s more: I had love-life melancholy. Cooey! Your one way ticket to doldrumsville has been delivered!
And yet, by the end of the day I practically skipped home from work – content with where I am and with a mega-exciting business idea for the future. I’d given my attitude the shake-down and a kick in the tushy. How? I decided to renew my appreciation for the fact that I am where I need to be. Not necessarily in a new-age, the-universe-has-a-plan, fateful kind of way (if that doesn’t float your boat) but in the way that everything I’m doing adds strings to my bow; every challenging period is making me more prepared for the next; and every seeming-catastrophe actually shows me great windows of opportunity.
This is priceless, real world experience that I’m learning from – not just the reeled-off case studies of a self-development book or blog. And it is always our own experiences that are the most valuable, not the packaged and sold experiences of others (though they can be an amazing source of inspiration). Furthermore, although some things may not be living up to the ideal I had painted for my life beyond university, conversely, some things I could never have idealised have happened to change me for the better. And woo-hecking-hoo for it!
I’ve done the playing hard, now I’m working hard and I’m planning hard. This is the period of my life that I’m in – and, by accepting and embracing it, I let myself make the most of it. A reality-check is a teacher. Being put in a situation I would never choose for myself means I’m learning new things about myself all the time. Those are the positives. And positivity is the attitude I like to wear.
So, gang: could the same be said for you? If you could know, in your heart, that you’re on track to something – a ‘what if’ – might you be happier? And, if you were happier, might you be more resilient? Might you get more from your current situation? Are you on the right track?
You tell me!
