“Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” I have no idea where I heard that quote or who it’s attributed to, but it was running through my head today.
It’s been a roller coaster of a few weeks with good news and bad news and great news and terrible news just entering the rotation left and right. Sometimes it feels like just when you’re ready to wallow in your misery and be heads down for a few days, you’re hit with this incredible, unexpected, piece of incredible news or someone gives you a genuine compliment that sends a tingle down your spine and plants a smile on your face. Or when you’re floating away on cloud nine thinking how things aren’t actually that bad and you’ll be okay, you’re blindsided by something that makes you feel like you’ve been punched in the gut or your normally calm, and sometimes stoic, behavior is on the verge of a flood of tears as you words creep out of your mouth. Yeah…that’s what it’s been like. Just a bag full of emotions.
And that’s when you look around you, and pay attention to what’s there–whether it comes from your squad or from strangers who cross paths with for a brief moment–support and hope comes in so many different ways. To listen to you as you word vomit over text message. To unexpectedly stand up for you and be your advocate in a way that no one has done for you before. To stubbornly refuse to let you dim your sparkle or dull your shine. To help you refocus your intentions, to remind you of your goals and your capabilities and your potential. To listen empathetically as you try to find rationale in between mixed messages and action. To take the tasks that you dread the most and turn them around into something actually interesting, and dare I say, enjoyable? To send the most ridiculous stories and photos to make you find the humor in even the scariest of moments. To support you. To inspire you. To remind you, that it’s going to be alright.
In the words of a friend of mine, “Sometimes we win and sometimes we learn. But we never lose. Losers lose. Eliminate the losers mentality.” Win or learn, no other options. Change your mindset, change your day, change your life.
