Career and Relationships
“Stop waiting for the perfect day or moment….take THIS day, THIS moment and lead it to perfection.” — Dr. Steve Maraboli
For many things, we wait around for the perfect time to go after our dreams and goals. The problem is, it sets us up for disappointment, stagnation, and failure. There’s never a perfect time or day. The universe comprises moving energy, so you can be moving and creating positive momentum, or sit still in stagnation. The choice is yours. If you are in a career or a relationship you tolerate, but don’t appreciate, external factors control your hopes of a happy life. If you’re not happy, don’t you think it’s time to do something about it? Or perhaps you’ve tried to change your situation, to no avail. Perhaps it’s time to try something different?
You deserve a fulfilling life with a career and relationships you enjoy. Everyone does. If you’ve settled in areas in your life, because of other people’s expectations or societal norms, it’s time to take a stand and declare you won’t endure it any longer. This is an idea echoed by the American spiritual teacher Adyashanti who says: “The keys to your happiness are no longer in anyone else’s pocket from the past. They’re in yours.” It’s time to make a list of things you want and create action steps to propel you forward.
A Wonderful Life Is Available Now
“Man is fond of counting his troubles, but he does not count his joys. If he counted them up as he ought to, he would see that every lot has enough happiness provided for it.” — Fyodor Dostoevsky
I know friends who are happy with an average job, little money, and no relationship. I know other friends who are happy with a distinguished career, plenty of money and a fulfilling relationship. They’ve tapped into the power to be happy regardless of their material possessions. They developed an attitude of happiness and gratitude NOW, as opposed to SOMEDAY. They’re not waiting for the perfect moment before they allow happiness to consume them. Most people want a happy life and seek objects and people to make them happy.
Happiness doesn’t arise from things and people; it comes from within. It requires cultivating happiness through the journey of life. It takes a season to slow down, contemplate life, face your pain, ask the hard questions and challenge yourself. It is for this reason I am drawn to the words of authors Todd Kashdan and Robert Biswas-Diener, who write in their book The Upside of Your Dark Side: “To put it succinctly, we humans are horrible at guessing how happy we will feel in the future, and yet we base important life decisions on these flawed predictions. We purchase TVs, plan retirement, and say yes to dinner dates, all because of an imperfect guess about how happy they will make us.” I assure you; a happy life is available to you now.
What Are You Willing To Do Different?
“People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they’re not on your road doesn’t mean they’ve gotten lost.” — H. Jackson Brown
If you want to settle where you are while still being unhappy, it is to be respected, but not encouraged. Maybe you’re indifferent and offer the common phrase: “I’m fine” when asked how you are, but you’re miserable inside. You say you want a better life, but you’re not willing to do anything different. You’re unwilling to travel a road you haven’t travelled before. You may be scared or tired. I understand, but you can do better. Everyone can, despite external conditions. I’ve experienced periods in my life where I wasn’t happy. Not that I didn’t want to be happy. I didn’t know how to be. I knew how to keep pressing forward, no matter what. I believed I could find happiness.
Even though it didn’t come in the way I expected and might not show up the way you expect, yet there’s a wellspring of happiness within you. As soon as you acknowledge it, you’ll realise life has more to offer; even if nothing has changed in your life. Stop waiting for the perfect moment to be happy or accomplished. Make your happiness a priority. Tell your partner, your boss, your friends, and your family you will change the situation, with the first thing being your perspective. You will stop trying to meet other people’s expectations. You will discover who you are and a joy bubbling within you, waiting for you to release it. Can you do it? Can you give yourself the gift of attending to your inner needs without trying to complicate things? Today is the perfect day to acknowledge your success, your happiness, and your fulfilled dreams. You don’t need to wait for the right circumstances to happen. Life is what we make of it, so make your dreams come true. Beginning today.
