Sometimes life hits you hard and it makes it difficult to see the good and not lose your shit with the smug customer service rep who doesn’t care about your problems. It happens to the best of us.
With a few perspective shifts, you can get yourself back on track and ride the wave instead of letting it crash on your head. You can focus on what you do have and be grateful instead of fixating on what you don’t have.
Everything is a gift
When you view things this way it will almost ALWAYS work out for you in the end. Here is an example of how I turned a garbage situation into a gift.
For the most part, I have been very lucky in that I’ve gotten to work with some amazing people over the years. With that said, I think almost everyone can relate to having horrible bosses, hell they made a couple of great movies about it.
Once upon a time, I had a crappy boss who was condescending and extremely passive-aggressive. It didn’t help that the company culture was toxic – they had a terrible attrition rate. Not all upper management was horrible and I had work friends- but I still dreaded Mondays.
While there was a huge lack of communication from my boss which caused problems in itself, I dreaded dealing with them at all.
It was a depressing job and I was unhappy. I was so unhappy that it was starting to affect my mood even at home. That is when I decided I wasn’t going to let a crappy job negatively impact myself or my husband in any way.
I decided I would show up to work and treat it as a gift every day. I would treat my crappy boss as a gift too. This doesn’t mean I decided to like my boss. This means I decided to shift my thinking from focusing on everything that was going wrong, to focusing on what I could make right.
If it wasn’t for that situation I wouldn’t have been motivated to go looking for a better paying job. My horrible boss helped me make more money. They gave me that gift, and I’m grateful.
Better things are around the corner
Sometimes that is hard to see, especially when going through a bad breakup. But whenever life hits me hard I always have to remind myself, even mid ugly cry, that things will get better. Even if I don’t believe myself and I can’t even see how that is possible at the moment, I still remind myself that it is going to get better.
Focus on what you do have instead of what you don’t have
There is nothing wrong with being ambitious. But sometimes those of us that go after big goals can get so caught up in the destination that we forget to appreciate all that we currently have. One way to help you do this is to have a gratitude journal that you use in the morning, or before bed, or both.
Pretend it was for your own good
This is a fun one to use when you are hitting all the red lights going home or your plane gets delayed or canceled. Pretend it was divine intervention and you weren’t supposed to be on that plane or driving ahead at a certain time.
Maybe this butterfly effect is preventing you from being in the wrong place at the wrong time and getting in a crash. Sounds crazy and it kind of is, but it definitely helps take the frustration and anger out of situations you have no control over.
Remember…
No matter what, everything in life is a gift. Whether that gift brings us happiness or a lesson, it can propel us to something better if we choose to shift our perspective and view it that way.
When times are rough, something better is around the corner.
Start focusing on what you do have instead of what you don’t have.
Pretend those frustrating situations that are out of your control are for your own good.
Did you find this useful? Don’t keep it a secret. I would love it if you would share it with a friend, colleague or loved one. It is the biggest compliment you can give me.
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