I do this, do you?
Right now, I find myself justifying my right to be unhappy. Whaaat?
In one of his podcasts, the late, great Dr. Wayne Dyer said something like, (and I’m paraphrasing):
“Don’t fight for your suffering.”
What he meant by this is you have the choice to be happy, so don’t argue for your right to suffer and be miserable. It seems we do this much of the time!
I can choose to feel happy (or at the very least, neutral. Neither happy or unhappy, just neutral.)
When I don’t feel great on any particular day, it doesn’t mean anything. In fact, we all feel unhappy, uncomfortable, or anxious half of the time.
If life is uncomfortable and unhappy 50% of the time, how do we choose to live our lives?
Two choices. Which will you choose?
- We can feel the discomfort of staying in “status quo,” by numbing ourselves, being miserable, and avoiding life in order to manage our unhappy and anxious thoughts.
- Or, we can feel the discomfort and stay engaged, move forward, take action, put ourselves out there, and live our lives fully.
In the long run, there’s a big difference between these two choices.
Where we end up depends on the choices we make.
The first one will keep us disengaged, lonely, anxious, overwhelmed, and the worst of it create a habit that leads to feeling bad about the world and ourselves.
The second choice is an investment in ourselves and our future and will lead us to move forward and to grow. And to accept the fact we don’t need to feel happy all the time to live our lives!
Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice.“ Dr. Wayne Dyer
We’re letting ourselves down when we linger in the discomfort of numbing and avoiding our life.
But we have the choice of taking responsibility for our life and making a better choice that serves us.
Choose well.
