Remember when you were a child, and the simplest things brought you joy?
Splashing through a puddle on a rainy day, a neat-looking bug, freshly raked leaves.
These are the small beauties in life. These are what we often overlook in our hustle and bustle lives.
Today, I ask you to slow down, and try to appreciate the glory that is hidden in each of our lives.
Throughout my life, I never would have described myself as optimistic, until very recently.
It always seemed like bad shit just followed me. I was put into bad situation after bad situation, seemingly without my control. It had to stop somewhere.
Finally I decided one day to change my luck, change my life.
It may sound silly, but the simplest, most effective means to happiness is this:
Wake up every morning and tell yourself, "Today is a GLORIOUS day to be alive!!!"
Now, you might be thinking, that's too hard. What impact is it really going to have? I'm stuck in a dead end job, I'm lonely, I'm depressed. Just saying that doesn't mean I am going to believe it.
Here's the thing though: it does. I have suffered from depression throughout my life. When I first started this daily habit, there were many days that I just did not believe it.
However, waking up positive brought the sunshine into my life.
Positive thinking is a powerful thing, people!!
I recently read an article on LifeHacker about luck, a subject that I am very much interested in. I seem to go through very clearly defined cycles of good luck and bad luck.
Turns out, "lucky people" are real, as are "unlucky people."
Don't get me wrong; that doesn't mean that you should resign yourself to your fate as an unlucky person.
YOU, and only you, have the power to change your luck.
Following up on the LH post, I looked a little more into the subject and found an incredible episode of a British show called "Derren Brown - The Experiments."
This episode was titled "The Secret of Luck."
If you have 45 minutes available, (which I know you do, get off netflix!!) go watch that video. It is absolutely fascinating.
For those of you without the time, I'll briefly sum it up. Derren Brown does a number of social experiments. He has a whole series. In this episode, he starts a rumor in a small (gorgeous) town called Todmorden, West Yorkshire, England. This rumor is simply this question: "Have you heard of the lucky dog?"
In the park, there is a statue of a dog. After planting the idea that this statue is lucky, people start to believe it, and visit the dog in droves. The filmmakers follow 7 people to see if their new perspective had any impact on their luck and success.
Sure enough, six of the people chosen reported better luck, happiness, and success. However, one subject in particular said he had felt no effect.
This man described himself as unlucky.
The producers decided to see how much of his "bad luck" was due to simply missed opportunities, so they put several potentially "lucky" scenarios in his path.
First, they slipped a scratch off into his mail, which, if scratched, would have won him a free TV.
He missed it.
Then, they put a 50 pound note directly in his path. No way he could miss that!
But he does.
So this raises the question: Is there really such thing as luck in the usual sense? Or do those people who identify as "lucky," truly simply see opportunities and take them?
That is what I would propose to you. Today, keep an eye out for those small things. A person struggling to change a tire on the side of the road. A woman who needs help carrying her groceries to her car.
Even just a person who looks like they could use a smile.
By helping people, you help yourself. By slowing down and appreciating the small things, you help your larger world to grow more brighter.
To sum up,
LIFE IS WHAT YOU MAKE OF IT!
If you invest positivity, smiles, and good will, good things will come from it.
By waking up every morning and telling myself that I WILL have a good day today, even if I don't believe it myself, I have created a happier, healthier person.
Good things come to those who believe they will.
Believe in the beauty of this universe, and most of all,
Have a good day today! No matter what!
(:<3
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