“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.” — Epictetus
You can complain about long hours…
…or you can choose to value your free-time more.
Your job might not be the perfect fit…
…but it might make you appreciate the next one even more.
You can complain that your boss is arrogant, manipulative, and incompetent…
…or you can take mental notes on how not to act for when you become a manager.
You can whine about annoying co-workers…
…but you’d be better served to learn how to deal with all walks of people.
You can complain that you’re underpaid…
…or you can learn to budget your money better and appreciate a less cluttered lifestyle.
You can get worn down by the grind…
…or you can choose to feel self-satisfaction and a sense of pride for pressing on.
The bottom line is that you can choose to let yourself get discouraged, frustrated and beat down…
…or you can react by finding the silver lining.
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Ryan, I love this! Finding the silver lining is something I’ve tried to do with every difficult situation I’ve faced, big or small. It makes dealing with those situations so much easier. Great advice, my friend!
.-= Sam Karol´s last blog ..How To Appreciate Your Friends Without A Hot Tub Time Machine {Patrick Pho} =-.
Glad you enjoyed it Sam. It was a little different than what I typically write, but I enjoyed changing the pace a bit. My last few months have been ‘complex’ for lack of a better word, and there were plenty of opportunities to get discouraged (and I did at times), but I also found that you’re usually as happy as you choose to be.
Besides – we’re not supposed to have it all figured it out.
Simplicity at its very best! Love this post, Ryan…I believe that you can tell a lot about a person by how they react to situations, and as hard as it may be, I believe that growth and maturity come from taking the negative situations and learning the lesson from them. For me, life seems to be a series of building blocks, with each experience leading to the next, with every situations being something we can learn from and from which we can move forward. That’s an affirmation that I take away from your post…Take the now and learn from it to make it a better tomorrow.
Great words of wisdom 🙂
I think you’re definitely on point Susan. There’s usually nothing you do about anything once it’s happened, but you can learn and grow from the experience.
Two mindsets always seem to help me out when I’m growing (not going) through discouraging times:
1.) I’m very lucky and it could always be worse.
2.) I’m young. There’s plenty of time to “make things happen, take over the world, insert something else ambitious here!”
Thanks for commenting!
Chest bump.
.-= Tyler Hurst´s last blog ..The Man Who Would Be Bond =-.
Exploding knuckles.
This is just plain amazing, Ryan. Absolutely beautiful!
(and of course, so true.)
.-= Tim Jahn´s last blog ..Interview with Cyrus Massoumi, Co-Founder & CEO of ZocDoc =-.
Thanks a lot Tim. I always value your input, and am flattered when something resonates with some of the regular contributors to this community.
“but I also found that you’re usually as happy as you choose to be.”
Quote to live by…I was just thinking this exact quote to myself earlier today when I heard someone complaining, and it really is true. Wonderful post. Whenever someone gets upset about something, I just tell them that having contrast in life is actually a blessing in disguise, because it helps shape what you want in life.
Enjoyed it!
I can’t say that I’m ‘always happy,’ but I have a lot of respect and admiration for those people who’s disposition is always happy, and I try to emulate them as much as possible. And it’s true, that contrast, overcoming adversity, etc. DO make us stronger, more seasoned, etc. It’s not just a tired cliche. Who would’ve thought? 🙂
Great post Ryan! I think we find it easier to focus on what we don’t like about life instead of focusing the positive things.
I like how you said, “…choose to feel self-satisfaction and a sense of pride for pressing on.” When things get hard or even if we fail at something we should find a way to learn from the situation and feel proud of that.
Thanks for the encouraging words!
.-= Jonathan Butterworth´s last blog ..Can A Big Ego Make You Successful? =-.
Great point re: focusing on the negative things Jonathan. I’ve talked before about how our friends and the people we surround ourselves with influence the way we act. If we surround ourselves with these inherently happy people, we can subscribe to their approach to life more often, but we’re flanked by whiners, complainers, etc. it’s easy to fall into that trap as well.
Thanks for stopping by; hope you’ll come back!
Ryan…good post. We are often our own worst enemies because we choose to live in pessimism. Be optimistic…find the silver lining. The grass is not always greener and we sometimes forget how great we have it because we get caught up in some funk.
.-= Thomas McMillan´s last blog ..Big Ten- Big XII- and PAC 10 potential changes – started with big ideas =-.
Awesome post and awesome attitude. Nuff said.
.-= Jake´s last blog ..Marathon runners vs World Cup soccer players =-.
I ran across a line in ACIM last night. “Specialness is a lack of trust in anyone except yourself.”
Man that hit home. I’ve been very patient today because of reading that.