Not everyone will understand your journey. That’s fine. It’s not their journey to make sense of. It’s yours.
Author | Photographer | CG Artist | Filmmaker
If you spend your time being the best person that you can be, there’s no need to concern yourself with those who may disapprove of how you live your life.
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Working through a problem with a 3rd party is one thing. Speaking badly about another person simply because you don’t like them is something else entirely.
If you wouldn’t say it to the person you’re speaking about, then perhaps it’s not the sort of thing you should be saying to someone else in their absence.
And if you’re not the kind of person who would stick up for a friend being spoken poorly of when they’re not present, then perhaps it’s time to consider what it means to be a friend.
Real friends may give each other shit — and often do — but they also don’t let others speak poorly of their friends in their absence.
Having integrity means sticking up for what you believe in even when it isn’t easy. And sometimes this means refusing to take part in conversations aimed at putting people down.
Learn to let people make up their own minds about others without trying to bond by creating a common enemy.
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There’s nothing wimpy or weak about being kind or tolerant of others.
Quite the opposite, really.
Patience and tolerance are often indicative of self-control.
Reflexive anger, hate, and aggression — on the other hand — represent a lack of self-control and often lead one to undesirable consequences.
In the hands of someone with mental discipline, the unrestrained anger and aggression of others can often be used against them.
If you can’t control yourself — the one and only person you truly have any control over — you may appear strong in the moment, but it isn’t real power, it’s weakness.
Self-discipline is a key to many doors. Not least of which is one that leads to a better, stronger, and healthier version of yourself.
If the results of your habits don’t make you a better, stronger, or healthier person, it’s time to consider new habits that do.
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Excerpt from: The good, the bad, and the rude
Don’t attribute to intentional rudeness what can easily be explained by a lack of self-awareness and social skills.
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Bored?
Think about a problem in the world and imagine ways to solve it.
That should keep you busy.
Don’t feel qualified?
Remember, conventional thinking doesn’t change the world, crazy ideas do.
Don’t waste your time telling the world that you’re bored. The world doesn’t care.
But if you tell the world the of the problems you’re trying to solve, you may just pique the interest of others who not only care enough about the problems to accept the invitation to help you, they might have crazy enough ideas to do it.
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Excerpt from: One less rhinoceros (intentions vs actions & dealing with mean people)
One of the reasons that being mean to mean people isn’t terribly effective is that people learn most through personal experience or by observation of others.
Giving someone a taste of their own medicine is very unlikely to teach them anything new or show them that there’s a better way.
By being mean to a mean person, you’re simply showing them a behavior they’re already familiar with. All your negative actions do is demonstrate that you can stoop to their level. And now instead of just one person acting badly, there are two. And rather than solve the problem, it makes things worse.
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Life is hard. And it isn’t fair. And it really hurts like hell sometimes. But if you focus on what is within your power to change for the better, you can. And you will.
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Excerpt from: Life isn’t fair.
No matter what life throws your way, no matter how unfair it may seem, refuse to play the victim. Refuse to be ruled by fear, pessimism, and negativity. Refuse to quit.
Be a warrior and work through whatever challenges you face in life with courage, love, and positivity. And continually push forward.
Because you are a survivor of the unfairness of life. You are stronger than you think. And you are capable of achieving far more than you believe.
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If you create goals with confidence, but sometimes suffer from self-doubt, realize that it’s a sign that you’re on the right track, not the wrong one.
Because if your aspirations don’t push you beyond your comfort zone, you’re not aiming high enough.
The most worthwhile goals in your life will be mountains, not molehills. They will not only force you to face challenges you expect, they’ll force you overcome obstacles you couldn’t anticipate when you started.
It’s not the challenges we expect on a journey that force us to face self-doubt as much as it’s those we never see coming. Learn to expect the unexpected and don’t be deterred by it.
Whenever self-doubt strikes on your journey, remind yourself why you started and focus not on how far you are from your goal, but instead on how far you’ve come.
Focus on your progress and your victories, no matter how small. Focus on the knowledge you’ve gained on your journey and all the new insights you can convert into wisdom.
Accept setbacks and self-doubt as part of your journey and refuse to let them deter you from the greatness you know is within you.
Remember that you didn’t pick your goals because you knew they would be easy, you picked them knowing they were hard but worthwhile.
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We live in a culture where it’s far easier to gain admiration for looking good than it is for doing good.
Just look at any magazine stand and it’s easy to see that society reflects our worship of good looks by putting more emphasis on those who are beautiful than on those who are making a real contribution.
Isn’t it time we pay attention less to genetic lottery winners with little more ambition than to gain attention for being attractive and pay more attention to the truly beautiful people going out of their way to add real value to people’s lives?
Because people are rarely as beautiful as when they act selflessly and perform an act of kindness for no other reason than to make a positive difference.
True beauty has far more to do with what kind of value a person adds to the people and places they encounter in life than it does with being physically attractive.
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