And I finally found it.
You know that feeling when you wake up, open your eyes and catch yourself smiling for no reason?
That’s what I’m talking about.
But there’s more to it than what people see on our face….
There’s a bright feeling that transpires in your heart when you finally find that part of yourself you’ve been looking for. The part that allows you to set yourself free. In this society, it’s hard to stay happy in a given moment as we do our best.
Deep down, you know it’s true.
But it’s the kind of change that starts within.
You start to see everything around you in a different light. The circumstances you keep going through start to look different. You find a way to crush them. The people in your life also seem different. But you just begin to enjoy them for being there.
AND…
It could be any area of your life that changes. The important thing to keep in mind is that you are never wrong for deciding how you chose to love the world around you. Maybe you’ve had someone tell you how they love the world. Maybe someone has shared so much with you that it can be mentally exhausting trying to see things from a different point of view.
BUT all that matters is what helps you find your true happiness.
Here’s a quote that you should take home with you.
“How you view what you do will affect how you do what you do.” -Inky Johnson, former NFL player
I think that was from my friend Inky Johnson. He had to let go of his football career shortly after his doctor told him he couldn’t play anymore after his broken arm. That’s not all. He fell in love with football while he was young and made his mom take him to the field to practice until midnight every night. He lost sleep but he won his dream and made it into the NFL…
…up until his accident.
And get this.
As he told his story on stage recently, he expressed his gratitude for his injury and how his life has transformed since.
How many of us can say that we are grateful that our dreams were taken away from us?
You see,
From hearing this we can learn a lot. There’s isn’t just one way to look at the world. There’s millions. And there’s your way. Choose the one that makes you happy. I don’t care what anyone else says or thinks of you. If someone has the time, energy and effort to be preoccupied with your business then make it easy to ignore them.
Let me explain.
Most people who work hard to grow themselves and invest in themselves cannot afford to spend anytime criticizing others. If you do get criticized hold on to this little summary I came up with through a series of books I read…
If you are getting criticized, you are getting the attention of those around you who admire what you’re doing. They admire it so much that they let you now, very subtly, that they see what you’re doing. And that’s why they try to bring you down to their level with their lukewarm words. No one every kicks a dead dog.
Yes, you read that right.
So keep that in mind for the sake of your happiness when you feel like you’re being defeated by others around you.
It has helped me withstand some of the toughest situations I have ever been in growing up in my teenage years.
I believe it can help you too if you keep it close to you like you do your phone.
Not only will you have something valuable by your side but your perspective will start to shift into something more powerful than you had before. You treat people a little differently based on the attitude you have towards them.
I shouldn’t have- I failed miserably so quickly
I tried this myself for a few years after I picked up a book on handling social anxiety. The author takes you by the hand and guides you through a path of self-discipline and a mental shift.
And when I finished the book, he clearly stated that he cannot hold it any longer. It was up to me as the student of the book to implement what I learned in order to see the world differently and find my true self that I always talked about.
However,
That was my problem.
I didn’t know where to start. I knew everything I needed to be happier, make more friends and surpass my anxiety.
But I took no initiative.
So stick with me here as I show you what changed.
I remember this season of my life like it was last week. I spent two years I believe living my life in the same lukewarm manner I had been. I didn’t change whatsoever. It felt like I had flushed time and money down the toilet. I felt hopeless. Misplaced. And I didn’t feel that trying anything to help myself grow would do me any good.
But it doesn’t end there.
I stopped reading for a few years.
I let go of my goals like they were balloons going towards the sky.
I stopped smiling.
I stopped shaking hands at my church.
I stopped going out.
I forgot about the gym which forced to stop looking into the mirror because I wasn’t going to see what I wanted to see anymore.
But as I continued to let go of the things that mattered most to me…
….I was still connected to the one thing that was holding me back.
You see, it wasn’t my gym membership, the books I was reading, the people I was around, or my life at home.
It was none of that whatsoever.
It was the one thing I lost sight of.
What’s the secret?
PERSPECTIVE.
Bear with me as I share with you what started happening around me next.
When when I did let go of it, I began to wake up with an inner peace that’s allowed me to follow my passion and navigate the world a lot easier because now I know what I want from it. It seems like the world (people, opportunities, places, situations, etc) start to help you achieve your dreams when you live your life as if you’ve already touched them.
And that’s why I sat down to write this just now.
We’ve already talked about every source of happiness I had that I accidentally lost touch of. It took me years to find out I still had an ugly perspective on everything and everyone around me.
But that’s where all our thoughts, words, and ultimately actions stem from is how we view the world. What you’ve been taught about being happy and joyful is never wrong as long as you treat the world in harmony with what you truly believe.
That was my mistake… again.
Your perspective in life is fed and nurtured by what you see, hear, and the environment you live in. If your soil is clean, your mind will be clean and you’ll live accordingly. But if your soil is dirty, how can you grow?
We can’t change soil. But we can add more things in our life that help us safeguard our minds. Such as keeping positive books close to you. Maybe that means listening to something positive every morning. Whatever the case may be, you’re never going to be wrong for how you structure your personal growth. You will start to get closer to being the version of yourself you’ve always dreamed of becoming.
Never allow someone to tell you it is silly to see the world the way you do. We are all different and none of us carries the answer to it all. We have to experiment here and there. We have to create new moments that allow us to foresee positive futures. And the only way to do that, of course, is by shifting your perspective into a mindset that allows you to be genuinely joyful.
Christian