Hi, and welcome to this month’s blog. I hope you’re ready for this, as I’ll make four controversial statements that stop many of us from living our best lives. I may not be right but what about the possibility I am?
- Moaning requires no skills or talent whatsoever, which is why so many people do it. Optimism, on the other hand, requires constant application, hard graft, and resilience
- We’re ageing before our time. It’s not just how we look; many don’t look after their overall health.
- No matter what some people do, it seems they think they deserve a trophy… when they don’t get a trophy, they are completely unprepared.
- Actions have consequences. Not all of our society are taught or understand this valuable lesson
I’ll briefly tackle these statements and provide some wisdom on each. When I was growing up, advice from older generations was viewed as valuable. We’ve lost our respect for this guidance somewhere, but I’ll share mine anyway. You never know; you might find it useful.
Moaning versus optimism is an easy one. Everyone has problems, some worse than others, but if we can’t change life events, we may as well choose to shift our mindset and approach them with a calmer attitude. I see anger everywhere today. There’s no benefit to feeling negative and approaching things with a cloud of gloom. Being cheerful and optimistic are the keys to success in life, work, health, and well-being.
We’re increasingly ageing before our time. When you’re in your 20’s, 30’s, and even your 40’s, growing old seems so far away that it’s not a priority. I get it! You’re busy; life is difficult enough without thinking about depressing stuff like old age, but 60 is the new 50. Don’t you want to enjoy your life when you have more time and less worry?
We’re programmed to think our younger days are best. Parties, boozing, late nights, festivals, concerts, spontaneity, wild holidays; BUT, and here’s the thing, if you look after yourself, you can still do all those things when you age; Jamie and I do 😊. I may not binge drink regularly and prefer a glass of red with dinner, some cheese, or perhaps a G&T over lunch, but this slight moderation won’t stop the fun! Looking after your face, body, and overall health isn’t difficult. Skip the lip fillers (they look terrible), don’t lie in the sun or use sunbeds (you could get skin cancer and wrinkles), exercise, floss your teeth every day and avoid drinking and eating too much; you don’t need that much; trust me!
And now for the real rant! This flipping trophy thing started with the schools and has escalated. What’s wrong with some people being good at sports and others being better academically? Not everyone can run a 100m in under 10 seconds. It’s also true that some people are good at everything. Yes, it’s annoying, but get over it; they deserve the trophy, but most people don’t.
The concept of everyone being a winner is this. Younger generations are spoiled products of a self-esteem culture in which they fear failure. Because of this, children grow up thinking they’re far more talented than they are, and they expect approval in every area and fail to learn how tough life is. They are unable to accept constructive criticism because it hurts their feelings. I believe this weakness of character will continue to erode our culture, but someday, they’re in for a rude awakening.
Finally, what do I mean by actions have consequences. Think about this: Everything we think, say, and do has consequences for ourselves and others. We need to remember that our actions are irreversible. Consequences are where our thoughts and actions meet reality. Today, people often think they are free to choose whatever action they want to take in life and believe they are free from the consequences of those actions. Sadly, they often are because parents, teachers, or our law and order don’t enforce the consequences. We must get better.
Wrapping up, I appreciate we live in a world where we have become accustomed to getting everything at the speed of thought. Patience is not seen as a virtue; impatience is the way most of us work. Why go through a fitness regime when you can use a pill? Why work hard when there is a get-rich-quick scheme or hack? We attribute the success of the wealthy, the top athlete, or the successful actor to luck. So many people ignore or are not interested in the failures and the struggles people encounter to be successful.
Our thoughts and behaviours must change to live our best life. Otherwise, life will be dull and miserable, feeling entitled to more rather than working hard and being grateful for what we have.
“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” – Oscar Wilde.
Until next time xxxxxx
Living-with-autoimmune 