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
One adds far more value to their life by contributing something of value to other people’s lives than they do by seeking to benefit only their own.
Collect value by contributing value.
“Try not to become a [person] of success. Rather become a [person] of value.” — Albert Einstein
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Originally Published on: Jul 17, 2015 @ 16:34
If you want to make a positive difference, but don’t know how, helping those who help others is a great place to start.
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In the same way that the hardest lessons we learn in life are often the most valuable, so, too, are the difficult people we meet along the way.
Even the unfriendliest and most challenging person we cross paths with has something of value to teach us about ourselves.
Sometimes we need to learn patience. Sometimes it’s self-discipline. Sometimes it’s to not let other people have so much control over our thoughts, feelings, and emotions.
Whatever it may be, the people we find particularly challenging are valuable because they can instantly highlight weaknesses in our self-control. They can trigger us to think, act, or behave in such a way that isn’t congruent with the type of person we want to be.
But every experience we have in life — whether we choose to label it as “good” or “bad” — is an opportunity for growth. And every encounter we have with difficult people provides us with an opportunity to identify the things we need to work on in order to close the gaps between the person we are and the person we want to be.
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” — Victor Frankl
A key to surviving experiences with difficult people — without being brought to the brink of behaving badly — is to remember that we may not always know what to do, but we can always choose the type of person we want to be.
And, with practice, we can choose to refuse to let others cause us to act in a way that is in direct conflict with the person we picture ourselves as.
And we can create the frame of mind necessary to do this by choosing to see the value in the negative people we encounter in life by actively using our experiences with them in such a way that we become not bitter, but better.
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Originally Published on: Jul 14, 2015 @ 06:42
If you want to be a positive force in people’s lives, you don’t need anyone’s acceptance or permission to do that. Nor do you have to follow anyone else’s standard on how to do it.
There will always be people critical of how you choose to make a positive difference in the world, but the fact is, those people are not your target. Your target is the one person whose life you make a little bit better by being a part of it. And after that person, it’s the next one.
And over time, you can touch many people’s lives in a positive way. And that is something you can do in any way you choose. You don’t have to be perfect. You just have to be you.
The world has enough people acting badly, spewing negativity, and making life unpleasant for others – and every single one of them feels justified for doing so.
We can do better. In every single one of your encounters today – whether online or in the real world – look for ways to support & encourage people. Seek out opportunities to make others smile. And put in the effort to create memories worth having.
Remember that every person you encounter has feelings. And that sometimes the person you think might have no need for your kind words & encouragement is the one that could use them the most.
My heart goes out to every walking wound and broken heart who still chooses to be a source of light despite a world that repeatedly shows you darkness. Your struggles are rarely seen and the degree of pain you’ve experienced in life is felt by few. And as much as what you do goes unnoticed and unappreciated, you keep pushing forward with love, light, and kindness instead of apathy or darkness. You are truly heroes.
