#lighten-up

We all have ideas in our mind about how the next day, the next week, and the next year will unfold.  We hope for the best, but those thoughts are simply wishful thinking.  You really don’t know what the future holds.  When was the last time everything ended-up happening exactly as you planned? 

In reality, life is messy, difficult and at times even hurtful.

Being human means that we deeply yearn to be perfect and complete, yet we often feel a lingering sense of being somehow less than what we should be.  It’s common to feel wounded, broken or in some way cheated by life.

Noted psychologist William James said it is our “torn-to-pieces-hood” that causes great discomfort and frustration.  It’s when our interior thoughts and exterior reality are at odds; like when you feel pulled in different directions by too many demands for your time and attention.  You can feel split.  As an escape, many turn to creating fantasies about how great everything is going to be in the future, and then they suffer when the least little thing doesn’t go according to plan.  This can be challenging because it’s easy to start believing that life is just one problem after another.

Thinking plays a huge role in this process, and it’s our thoughts that have the greatest impact in how much we enjoy and feel satisfied with life.  It’s what we tell ourselves that matters.  As I’ve said before, the most important conversation you will have today is with yourself!

We would do well to remember that everybody struggles from time to time.  Everyone goes through difficulties, everybody fails, and absolutely everyone makes mistakes.  Your failures don’t make you unlovable.  They make you human.  And, being human is our shared condition.  From it comes compassion.

None of us is finished growing, and unfortunately, growth is usually painful.  We are always in the process of becoming.  Life is a pilgrimage.

So, today I am reminding you to please lighten-up and try to enjoy the journey.  Quit making life more difficult and frustrating than it needs to be by adding unrealistic expectations.  Life will never be the way you think it should be, but that’s okay.  You can handle it.

Lighten Up - Citizens (London Indies)