One day I woke up knowing I needed to make a change and from that day on, my life has been incredible. Just kidding. But wouldn’t it be nice if life worked that way? Since it doesn’t, all we can really do is try our best every day to be a little better and maybe eventually we’ll get there.
A while back, I started adding a few things to my routine to help live a more positive life. By focusing on the good and feeling more positive most of the time, I’ve found that I don’t sweat the small stuff as much as I used to and I’m able to focus more on where I’m headed instead of dwelling on the past. I have a lot of goals, and getting caught up in things that won’t matter in the long run isn’t a good use of time. That’s not to say I don’t misstep once in a while, because believe me, I do – but, I’ve found that when I do these three things I’m able to stay on a track roughly 90% of the time.
- Practice gratitude. Over the last couple of years, I’ve read a lot of books that stress the importance of gratitude (I have a blog post coming soon on this one so stay tuned), and I started thinking that maybe they all have a point. So, I started writing a list of at least 5 things I’m grateful for every day. Sometimes they’re more basic lists like family, friends, Charlotte, Netflix – but sometimes they’re more specific lists about something really great that happened that day. Within a few days of doing this, I noticed a shift in my mindset. I wasn’t so angry and disappointed anymore. Negative feelings that I couldn’t pinpoint to any real cause started to fade and I began feeling a little calmer on a daily basis. If I’m having a bad day, I’ll go back and read through old lists to remind myself that I have it pretty good. This small task has made such a positive impact on my life and I wish I could explain better how it’s changed me, but you’ll just have to try it for yourself.
- Trust. I started trusting that everything would be alright. I stopped thinking about everything that could go wrong and just starting trusting that what’s meant to be will eventually be. Over the last year, I’ve had a few things fall into place out of the blue, and when I’m having doubts I think back to those moments. In the past, I, to a fault, felt like I had to have control over everything. And, while there are still a few things I’m having a hard time trusting the timing of, I’m doing a lot better than I ever have. At the end of the day, the only thing we can guarantee is that things change, and if we trust that it’s for the better and it will all work out, then we don’t need to spend time worrying about it.
- Let go. I let go of regret. I let go of mistakes I made in my past that were weighing heavily on me and forgave myself for them. I let go of the fear of failure and judgment and of the idea that my life has to unfold exactly as I planned. Learning to let go took a weight off my shoulders. Life’s too short to focus on the past, the things that didn’t work out, and trying to figure out why. Letting go ended up opening new doors for new opportunities that I couldn’t have imagined.