Have you ever met someone who is so negative? They hate everything about their life? They hate their job? They hate their life? They think that the world is unfair to them? Their world is never full of color, just a constant parade of all shades of blue.
Recently, a colleague and I were discussing what it’s like to have to live with such a person. The constant struggle it is to get out of their shroud of darkness and into a space where you can be happy. This got me thinking about what effect I have on people when I release, negative energy.
Often, we wake up and the first thing out of our mouths is a sigh. Immediately, you put thoughts into your head about what a short night it was, what an ugly morning it is and oh! It’s Monday again. We completely overlook the fact that we have been given another opportunity to make a change. It’s a new morning to change your story, it’s another terrific chance to write your name in the history books. I understand the urge to curse a new morning. Sure, the first thing you think of, is the amount of work you have to get done, the responsibilities you have to undertake and more so, the morning cold you have to brace.
When I was on internship, I had to be up by 4:30 am every day. It wasn’t a pleasant experience especially because I was a student who was used to 10 hours of sleep at best. I was miserable at first and irritable most mornings. However, as time went by, it occurred to me that I was the only one who seemed so. Everyone else seemed to behave as if they’d had 12 hours of sleep and would be chatting merrily at breakfast. So I took a step back to examine my situation and discovered quite a number of hard truths.
First, it had taken me two months of tireless struggle to land me that internship. Second, during this job search people, some of the people we’d been searching with, hadn’t been as fortunate as I had, to secure an internship. Third, if I was going to fulfil all my dreams, see the world, stand on top of the world and take it all in, then I had to get used to the early mornings. I believe this then became a turning point for me.
I began to make a deliberate effort in ensuring my mornings were beautiful. I would wake up 20 minutes later and just stand on the balcony taking everything in. I formed a habit of taking pictures of the sunrise. With time, I would wake up early, just not to miss the sunrise.
My experience with early mornings is just an example. Often, we end up in situations we don’t appreciate. We wish we could get out of it. We start to resent it and brood so much over it. In the recent past, I have learned to compartmentalize my situations into things I can change and things I cannot change. If I cannot change something then I simply accept it and find a way to still be happy, regardless. If it’s something I can change, then I work on changing it. I live life with the hope of making an impact. To read more posts by Angela, Click HERE
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