Now first off, I’m not here to spread new age fairy tales or to convince people that by merely becoming a master of controlling your mind into only thinking positive thoughts that somehow you’re able to magically delete all your woes, angst, fears, and worries, hence creating a utopia devoid of all negativity.
But from personal experience, I am here to describe how we all have the innate ability to shape our present reality and hereby create a life that’s exceptionally easier to deal with on a daily basis.
How? Well technically it’s nothing more than a conscious exertion of effort into making what I’m about to divulge in this article into a daily mindset practice. With just a commitment of 30 days, I guarantee you’ll be hooked after witnessing firsthand the transformative overhaul your life’s undergone, and the positive enhancement to the overall quality of your life is nothing less than astounding.
Yeah I know, this whole shifting your mindset thing towards cultivating an attitude of gratitude has all but played itself out its welcome in this day and age where temporary highs of motivation have become the norm, but this still doesn’t discount the ground breaking changes you’ll experience through learning to shift your outlook into one of mindful appreciation, especially when shit hits the fan, life gets messy and you’re tempted to continue fueling the self-destructive wildfires of jadedness and resentfulness instead.
Because it’s precisely when the going gets rough and times get hard that oftentimes we find ourselves slipping subconsciously back into our old negative patterns, bad habits, outdated storylines and stale, fixed belief systems.
Now I’m no motivational dictator whose sole purpose was to come and force-feed positivity down your throats…in fact I actually feel it’s important to allow yourself a brief allotted period of time to stew in introspection and feel all those feels that need to be felt. This includes all those so-called negative emotions like anger, jealousy, depression and rage to name just a few, but I cannot emphasize when I say BRIEF ALLOTTED TIME enough.
Think of it like this, spend 20% of your energy feeling all your feels, whatever they may be, and then the other 80% putting your energy into pulling yourself up and out in order to move with a more positive perspective, and one of the quickest ways I’ve personally found as a now recovering serial pessimist, is consciously choosing to create an experience of gratitude.
On paper I know all this sounds so simple, and eventually with a dedicated practice it will be, but in the beginning emerging from your minds gutter isn’t always so easy.
Life still continues to ruffle my feathers and persistently test me, so my own practice of consistently finding gratitude in unlikely places is constantly still getting a run for its money. For example, the majority of 2017 felt like I’d been swimming the wrong way against a strong current in a murky sewer of heavy, shit-stained emotions, but even as difficult as this year was, I still found myself choosing a feeling gratitude despite being smack dab in the midst of all the struggle.
These “holes” we sometimes catch ourselves falling into are never punishment, but critical processes for teaching the necessary valuable lessons needed for leveling yourself up in the evolutionary growth game before you fully step up it up a notch or ten and move forward into achieving what you previously believed was impossible.
Remember…Life doesn’t contain a predetermined mapped out course on purpose. Stop fooling yourself. There are no loopholes, fast tracks or easy shortcuts. Life’s a goddamn journey and what you’re experiencing now is the ride, and riding on this unpredictable roller-coaster oftentimes means getting your hands dirty by putting in effort with the willingness to risk everything in order to create the life you wish to live into reality. To be clear, getting your hands dirty doesn’t have to be synonymous with struggle. The struggle does not have to be real, because in actuality whenever you’re walking on a path of alignment in manifesting your authentic desires, passions and making your dreams a reality, these temporary transition periods feel smooth, but you only reach this point by going after what it is in your heart you truly strive to be, NO MATTER THE COST and the higher you aim the better.
Everything required to make these changes already exists within you. Don’t cheat yourself by saying other people have more willpower than you, because that’s bullshit and deep inside you know it. Truth be told, the only difference between highly driven successful people and you is that these folks have already begun putting in the effort to create change, and have learned to find gratitude in the swamp of difficulty. They’ve stopped seeking out an external source to discover their passion and create the drive and hunger for the life they want. These people have learned to duck, dodge, and roll with the punches, and if they can do it, you can too.
Start by simply finding beauty in the midst of the sloppiness, because it’s there, but only if you’re open and aware enough to see it.
It’s all a perspective thing and learning to find appreciation…Even when the shit hits the fan and life gets messy.
If you believe in the work we are doing here at The Good Men Project, please join like-minded individuals in The Good Men Project Premium Community.
◊♦◊
◊♦◊
Get the best stories from The Good Men Project delivered straight to your inbox, here.
◊♦◊
◊♦◊
Sign up for our Writing Prompts email to receive writing inspiration in your inbox twice per week.
The Good Men Project is an Amazon.com affiliate. If you shop via THIS LINK, we will get a small commission and you will be supporting our Mission while still getting the quality products you would have purchased, anyway! Thank you for your continued support!
Photo: Getty Images