Thought for the Day:
Is the highest goal in your life to be right or to be at peace? Do you have to prove that you are right and
attempt to get everyone else to believe exactly as you do? Even on relatively minor issues some people
feel compelled to force their opinions upon other people. I know people who enjoy turning every
decision into an argument and seek to decimate their opponents and brow beat
them into submission. Is that any way to
live?
“…life is filled with opportunities to choose between making a big deal
out of something or simply letting it go, realizing it doesn’t really matter… Many people, however, argue, confront, and
fight over practically anything, turning their lives into a series of battles
over relatively ‘small stuff.’ There is
so much frustration in living this type of life that you lose track of what is
truly relevant. The tiniest disagreement
or glitch in your plans can be made into a big deal if you goal (conscious or unconscious)
is to have everything work out in your favor.
In my book, this is nothing more than a prescription for unhappiness and
frustration. The truth is, life is
rarely exactly the way we want it to be, and other people often don’t act as we
would like them to. Moment by moment
there are aspects of like that we like and others that we don’t. There are always going to be people who
disagree with you, people who do things differently, and things that don’t work
out. If you fight against this principle
of life, you’ll spend most of your life fighting battles.” [Richard Carlson, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff…and
it’s all small stuff].
I understand that there truly are some things that you must absolutely
fight for; but on the whole we fight way too much. We think too highly of our own opinions and
viewpoints and we are too willing to destroy relationships in order to prove we
are right.
Letting things go is very difficult for me. I have an unwavering sense of right and
wrong. Usually it is, “I am right; so
therefore you must be wrong!” I must
admit over the past year I’ve learned to let a lot of things go and not get all
worked up over as many things. It is
hard for me to admit that some things that I fought long and hard over really weren’t
worth the battle—I see that now. I’ve
gained a clearly perspective about what is truly important.
I cannot say that I’ve mellowed because things have worked out better
or because everyone always agrees with me now.
I just turned a corner mentally and decided that many things that used
to upset me shouldn’t have; so I let them go.
Yep! The same stuff that use to
happen is still happening around me; but I have chosen not to let it bother
me. I am more at peace and happier. I see that life is too short to waste it on
being upset and worked up all the time.
Some people are just naturally mellow and don’t let too much bother
them. Others, like me, have to make a
decision to develop new habits of response to people and situations that use to
“push our buttons.” What about you? Do you find that you are getting worked up
too often about too many things? Is it
always worth the fight and the emotional energy that you’ve expended battling
for victory? I hope that you’ll learn to
let peace flood your soul and you can enjoy the people and the experiences
around you more fully.
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