Find the Courage to Look inside and You Will See the Honest Truth

Your world is a mirror and will reflect what you put into it

Sometimes it happens we have days or weeks we find tougher than most. How we deal with them matters not just for our sanity but for the love and peace of those around us.

Last week I found myself examining the world with what felt like tired, disappointed, and angry eyes. Despite my blessings and relative comfort, it felt like I was looking the wrong way through a pair of binoculars. Everything felt small, distant, and narrow.

I tried my go-to remedies in the form of movement, running, and sitting still with meditation. Both temporarily helped buoy up my mood and outlook. But the overall despair and narrowness remained.

The crazy thing is I knew the reasons for my mood, and it is only today that I have figured out why I allowed my David downer attitude to persist.

I can easily list a long shopping list of disappointments, with my associated feelings around the war between Russia and Ukraine, not seeing my Medium stats head in the direction I desire (well, actually, I need to do the work), not hitting my health targets and then the physical pain caused by overexercising, having to deal with and trying to navigate around toxic people and more. But none of that, well, except for the war, is necessarily unusual. We all have trials and tribulations that we deal with day to day, week to week.

The point is listing and focusing on the things that are not going to plan helps no one. I imagine my list would rightly seem trivial if not inconsequential compared to anyone else.

But still, I find myself writing and bemoaning my week because I recognise that often it is not the fact that we are carrying one or two burdens that are the problem. Instead, the length of time we hold them makes them heavy.

If there is one thing that life guarantees, it is heartache and suffering, we are destined to face challenges. But it is how we react and deal with our hurdles that determines the quality of our life.

Happiness is not the absence of problems. It’s the ability to deal with them. — Steve Maraboli

I know this, but it is one thing to have the knowledge and another to integrate and implement fully in your life.

“There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.” — Morpheus. The Matrix

That is why the perfectly timed reminder from Esther George, which you can read below, is so much appreciated. In Esther’s article, she talks about the importance of introspection and how if we are honest, we would see the traits, dislikes, and resentment we see in others are a reflection of ourselves.

Her post got me thinking about the heaviness of the bucketful of disappointments I was carrying. In as much as I had and found good reasons to be triggered by the action and behaviours of others. Dwelling on past behaviours clearly wasn’t serving me any good.

The truth is I need to move on and accept what’s done is done and that it is not for me to try and change the perception of others. My response and reaction require me to dig down and address my feelings. Because as we know, what we resist, persists and finds different ways to manifest.

So today, I am refocussing on what I can and can’t do, and I want to take this opportunity to say thank you to Esther George for her post. It certainly made me stop, pause, reflect, and remember that sometimes we feel powerless. But, the truth is we have more power in our control than we think.

It would seem today, I have been drawn to helpful posts that support what I need to do. So, here is Diana Meresc's post that I am sharing with gratitude and appreciation for her tips on remaining optimistic in the face of toxic people.

Last but not least, a big thank you to all the editors, Trista Signe Ainsworth, Ellie Jacobson, and Sharing Randomly at Thank You Notes, for accepting and publishing my work.