Do you look at the world as a scary place or do you see its beauty and grace?
I am quite an optimist when it comes to life but I am also a realist and I can't deny that there are scary, cruel and horrible things in the world that make no sense.
Still, rather than seeing the glass as half empty, I prefer to look at it as the glass is refillable. Life is a journey of learning and we are bound to make mistakes, take wrong turns and stumble from time to time. But if we truly look at experiences as lessons to learn from I think we will continue to grow and do better.
Navigating a bumpy journey
Any learning often involves trial and error so we must be compassionate with ourselves and others when mistakes are made. Negativity and holding grudges is only harmful to yourself and your personal journey. Dr. Brian Weiss believes that more can be learned from a bumpy journey than a smooth one so when we face obstacles we know there is an important lesson placed before us.
I am not suggesting that we always face the world with a smile on our face and a shrug to anything bad that happens. This is called toxic positivity and can be just as harmful as too much negativity. We don't want to ignore our feelings of sadness or anger because all feelings are valid and must be recognized. Instead though we must understand them and work through them so they benefit us the best. We need to feel the more uncomfortable emotions to truly be able to feel the more pleasant ones. But it is important to acknowledge the feeling, understand why it is what we feel, and then work in a direction that moves you forward. When faced with these emotions, and/or obstacles we can connect with how they make us feel, how we may be able to alter how to react to them and what we might learn from the experience to help us in the future.
Instead of focusing on "why is this happening to me?" we can think of "how can this help me move forward?"
When we follow our own journey of learning which helps us learn about life, and ourselves, we can focus on living our most fabulous life.
Book recommendation: Fabulous Flamingo
This book introduces children to staying true to themselves. Living the best life for them that doesn't rely on the thoughts or ideas that others might place on them.
It is important that we follow the journey that is best for each of us and this book helps get that point across.
"Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood."
~ Helen Keller
Some days are tougher to get through than others but it is important to focus on those little moments of goodness. Check out my blog post A Little Spot of Light to learn more.