Turning Over a New Leaf

Words of wisdom from Oprah: “No one is insignificant, and a person is not their faults.” I was having a rough morning. I was letting little things get to me, and I was valuing myself based on my perception of others’ actions. It was one of those mornings where I was letting small things blow up in my mind, and I was extrapolating way beyond reality. I was focusing on the negative, rather than the positive, in my life and I was taking offense at the way others’ interact with me, without being able to see that they are doing what they can, in their own way, not in my way. I don’t like myself very much when I get in these moods, which occur on occasion. (Come on, we all have our bad, blue days when nothing seems to be right.) When I am in these moods, it only spirals down and down – I then get upset with myself for being in such a mood, and allowing myself to be down, and I devalue myself more and more until I feel unworthy of whatever things are going right. As I was getting to this low point, I remembered something that a friend often tells me. It is all in my mind. I have the power to make myself feel low, or make myself feel good. My thoughts are what drive me. And I have the power to change my thoughts. It is not always easy, but I can take control and change my reality. So that is what I decided to do. I decided that my value is not dependent on what others do or say. I have to love myself for my good attributes and accept the mistakes I have made in the past and move beyond them. And I have to love others for their good attributes and accept their mistakes and move beyond them. The good doesn’t change with the day or mood. And it is a choice to look at the positive things and focus on them, rather than look at the negative and focus on faults. No one is perfect and everyone works with the tools they have. I am making a conscious decision to love myself and others for the positive and good that is in each of us. When I get disappointed or hurt about something, I am consciously going to tell myself that it is not a reflection on me, or even the other person. Everyone makes mistakes; a person is not their mistakes. Each person works within their own reality, and does the best that they can do on that particular day. And I am going to appreciate myself and everyone else for that. I am going to look at the positive and attempt to let others know what I appreciate them for. Basically, I am going to do my best to look at the positive in situations and let go of the negative. It is not easy to do this, and I realize that I am faced with a tall task. But I honestly believe two things. 1) I can do it if I put my mind to it. 2) I will be 100 times better off for just having tried. I challenge everyone to embrace this philosophy of love and acceptance and see what happens.