Something that can immediately brighten my day is when I
receive a heartfelt compliment. Knowing that someone took the time to acknowledge
my hard work or appreciate a skill of mine and then went out of their way to
tell me goes a long way. Too often do I not give myself enough credit or take
the time to pat myself on the back. I am one that always looks at what I could
have done better. While it is good to constantly look for ways to improve, not
taking the time to recognize the great things that have been accomplished can
be a slippery slope to a lack in self-worth.
Reflecting back on my first semester of college there were
times where I wasn’t happy with my performance. Instead of looking for a way to
positively improve myself I would just focus on all the negative parts of
myself and rarely if ever looked at the good I was accomplishing. This led me
to be even more upset because I wasn’t improving since I just sulked around all
day. This cycle continued on for longer than I’d like to admit.
Finally I got to the point where I was sick of being mopey
and not happy so I really evaluated where I was and what I was doing and come
to a novel realization. If I want to be
happy then just focus on the parts of life that make me happy. I knew that
I am capable of being a merry person and that it had more to do with my mindset
than my circumstance. However, this is not a new idea. Abraham Lincoln has had
this figured out for a while, “People are just about as happy as they make up
their minds to be.”
Ever since I’ve truly taken this mentality to heart I have
seen improvements. Keep in mind it wasn’t that I flipped a switch and
everything was better. I have to consciously remind myself of this multiple
times a day, but every day I see myself doing it less and less. It isn’t always
easy but so far it has been worth it. Having the right mindset also helps when
it comes to changing circumstances as well. With a positive outlook being the
first step many other parts of my life followed suit in making themselves better.
The reason why everything comes to work together is because
all of those pieces are working to achieve one common goal, improving the
overall quality of one’s life. At its core positive thinking is meant to boost
the enjoyment of life and with that happiness is a side effect. With that, go
and enjoy life simply because you think you should!
Stationed by the Rising Sun,
Jack Roessler
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