Wednesday 9:17pm
Saint Paul
You are already successful.
You are already happy.
You are already rich.
Whaaaa?
Most of us are trying to find happiness in our life.
You think this ties into financial success, which brings status and material goods, perhaps friends or lovers, a larger home and fewer stresses.
Financial success might bring all of these… and it likely to bring additional problems for you to face.
In fact…
Life is filled with problems.
You need problems.
You need problems so much that when things are going well for yourself, you tend to invent them or create them.
In times of prosperity you find ways that others have insulted you. You find ways you’ve been disenfranchised, ways you got screwed, ways to blame others for the small things that have gone wrong.
You create drama for a sense of excitement in life.
In times of hardship… you can either keep the previous beliefs… and certainly find ways to reinforce them…
(God knows, we can reinforce our feelings of rejection…)
or you might perhaps see that we’re all a little lucky, we’re all trying our hardest, we’re all a bit afraid, and we’re all in this together.
And when we’re in hard times together, we become united against a common enemy.
What’s changed?
What has changed is the framing of how you see life. Smaller problems no longer compare when your life or livelihood is threatened.
Reframed, you’re already successful. You built the life you have.
You’re already a lovable person, with happiness within, if you seek it and share it.
You’re already rich, surrounded by enough things to make your ancestors proud (or alarmed).
That gratitude is short term. It doesn’t last.
If you could bottle this new perspective… carbonate it… and sell it in a few weeks… you could be very wealthy.
Every person you know would want a dose!
But, you cannot. And when those hypothetical customers are doing well again, they’ll slip back into blaming others for their own minor misfortunes.
But not you… if you own your actions, reactions, mistakes, successes… and not only own them, but to examine them and learn from them… build upon them…
Misfortune gives you an opportunity to learn, if you’re willing to learn from her. She’s a far greater teacher than prosperity.
Learn about yourself and your reactions; learn about others and their reactions.
…and… which reactions are useful to grow…
Patience, resolve, practice, daring,
trust, confidence, faith, boldness, growth…
…and which reactions are useful to understand the people around you…
Fear, mistrust, scarcity, consumption,
anger, compliance, impulsiveness…
And because your problems are yours alone, unique as a set to you, your reactions come to define you and your life.
The key is to stay with the perspective that
My problems will always exist,
What will I make of them?