Situations

"Everything occurring in your life has been perfectly orchestrated to inspire your maximal evolution as a human being and bring you into your true power. Learn from life and allow it to take you where you are meant to go-it has your higher interests in mind." - Robin Sharma

So first of all, I didn't realize that you guys were actually reading this. It was so nice to find out that people care and have time for this...and it kind of in turn inspires me to write more. Thank you :) 

Okay, back to this post. Look at the quote again, and think about what it means to you. Do you believe it? I know that at times I definitely don't, so don't be scared to say "no". [Remember, lying to yourself will only make your life more difficult.] Anyway, so keep thinking about what that quote is saying while you read everything below. Actually, what I think you should really do is take time away from the rest of this post to think about what it means to you and how that quote can change your life at the moment. Once you're done, come back and read my personal thoughts on it.

...or you can continue reading. Either works for me. So I'm going to just think of a lot of situations and then explain what I got out of that quote. 

1) Your roommate starts getting mad at you about the littlest of things, and you talk to her/him about it. You see that there is no real reason behind this anger your roommate has. Instead, there is a slight jealous undertone because your roommate is not happy about the fact that you have friends that are not mutual; therefore, you hang out with others without inviting him/her. How do you react? (a) You are annoyed and you stop talking to her. (b) You are annoyed and you let her know that you are annoyed before you stop talking to her. (c) You are annoyed and you pretend that nothing happened, meaning that you talk to her but are essentially "fake". (d) You are truly okay with it, and continue to treat her like a really good friend because you feel that she still is one from the bottom of your heart. Which seems to be the best way to respond? *Ding ding ding* you got it! But now seriously speaking, how are you most likely to respond? It isn't (d), is it? Most likely, no. It's not.

2) You are with a great group of friends that you've known forever. They constantly make fun of one person that you don't know so well. You have never spoken to this person but you've heard so much about him/her that you feel as if you've known him forever. Let me emphasize that these are really, really good friends of yours; therefore, you're with them all the time. You finally see this person one day because you happen to be in the same class and this person is in your group for the day. How do you react? (a) Negatively towards the person since you have those [subconscious] emotions for them? (b) Negatively towards the person because you accept everything bad your friends say about the person. (c) Neutrally-you decide you will figure out how the person is on your own. (d) Positively-you don't really think about judging the person; you just act if it is anyone else and you assume that you can (and will) become friends with this person. Once again, what would you do? What should you do? Is there an obvious answer? Yes, I think so.

3) You are a junior in college. You are super busy: You are studying for some super important exam (MCATs, LSATs, etc.). You are studying for some not so important exams (neuropsychology, accounting, etc.). You are writing papers for some classes (research, religion, etc.). You are reading some boring but potentially interesting books (religion, philosophy, etc.). You are involved with three different on campus organizations. You are pledging for a fraternity. And your parents want you home every other weekend for some cute family game nights. Or something like that. You also have so many good groups of friends that like to hang out and just be kids. So you really are busy. Your parents ask you to come home one weekend to do something important (celebrate a holiday, take care of your siblings, etc.) but you are swamped: you have meetings, things to do, and you have been invited to what is supposed to be the wildest party of the semester. What would you do? (a) Go home and be grouchy the whole time. (b) Go home and be really happy. (c) Go home and do your work while doing what your parents want. (d) Stay at school and go to your meeting and get your work done. (e) Stay at school and go to your meeting and go to the party. (f) Stay at school and do whatever combination you can at school basically. Is there a right answer to this? I don't think so, maybe you disagree. But yes, that's the situation-you answer however you would like to.

So what am I getting at?! Let's look at what we can learn from these situations. 

1) if we choose to go on with our lives and just truly continue liking her as we did, then we're getting a lot out of it. Selfish? Maybe, but not really. You are growing, you are developing. How? You are forgiving. You are opening up your heart and choosing to focus on yourself and your life. You aren't letting anyone else's negative actions change you. Instead, you are choosing to be "the better person." I know that sounds cliche and all, but think about it. You are helping yourself by being a better person. Isn't that awesome? To forgive is to have compassion, and if you are able to forgive someone when they do random/silly things as situation #1, then you will find it easy for your heart to forgive later. It will be natural for you, and that will make you better and happier. You don't have to agree, but that is definitely how I feel.

2) I personally think that this one is a lot more obvious. By being positive about the situation, you are doing so many good things. First of all, you're being positive. That's always a good thing. But more than that, you are being accepting. It is so difficult for people to just accept others into this world. I don't think I really have to expand on this point, but just imagine if you chose to accept that one person into your life with no prior feelings towards them. Who knows...they could be your best friend in the near future. Right?

3) Like I said before, this has no right or wrong answer. But what do we learn from this point? Priorities are important. If we have our values/morals/goals straight, then it will be extremely easy for us to make decisions. More than that, we'll never regret the decisions that we make because they have a foundation. 

Okay so the main point of this: do you realize a common theme in each situation?? You ALWAYS have a choice. Every single thing you do in life can go in many different ways. Whether you go to class or not, whether you say hi to someone or not, whether you pick up your phone or not, whether you walk around the BCC or through the BCC...every single thing you do is a decision. So why not think about it and make the "right" choice? Or the better choice? You probably think that I'm insane right now. How can we possibly think about making the "right" decision at every second? We can't. But maybe we can do it once a week for one situation, right? If you know that you are making the better choice at least once a week, then you are becoming a better person at least once a week. Doesn't that sound almost too good to be true? But think about it because it really does make sense. More than that, you will begin to imbibe so many things such as forgiveness, selflessness, unconditional love, acceptance, etc. I honestly am so excited & happy right now just sharing my epiphany because it just seems so amazing! 

If you think that this is obvious and I'm being silly, then that's great/amazing for you! I know this and I know that it's obvious BUT I also know that I have not spent time to think about all of my actions even if others have told me. I think I needed it simplified and after thinking about that quote for a few days, it was broken down in my mind so I wanted to share. As always, these are my thoughts-you do not have to agree! 

If this doesn't explain what I'm saying enough, then let me know please! And if you aren't as excited as I am at the moment, then let me know!! I will write more :) I will explain more, I will share more. If you need someone to hold you accountable for analyzing one situation per week, let me know-I'll be glad to be that person. I think that as friends we are supposed to be working on becoming better people together. So why not start now?

So long <3