It's Up To You

Change happens.

It's up to you to decide if the change is good or bad. It's up to you to decide how you react. It's up to you to take control of any situation. It's up to you to figure out how to make the best out of anything. It's up to you.

Start acting like it.

Focus

Things don't always happen the way we want them to. We don't always get the results we are shooting for. There are going to be ups and downs in all of our lives. We'll have arguments; we'll make choices; we'll do the unthinkable; we'll fall down; we'll get up; we'll make some great choices; we'll do something really stupid; we'll win; we'll lose. Such is life.

What we do in our life is important, but how we live is even more important. We can do everything in our power to stay away from failure and mistakes and hurt. Or, we can attack life with a reckless abandon, chasing our dreams and not letting anything stop us. Yes, we will miss some things and we will fail and we will get hurt and we will make mistakes, but if we continue to get up every time we fall and keep pushing forward, nothing will be able to stop us.

I understand the thought and reasoning behind being careful and trying to insulate ourselves from hurting deeply. I spent way too many years of this life hiding from pain and doing anything I could think of to stay as far away from failure. The only thing I accomplished was numbing everything in life and filling it with regrets. I took no chances and did little to excel. I focused on the things I missed and didn't notice the things I gained. Did I really gain them, if I never noticed them?

How we live our life is tied directly to our outlook on life. If you look around you, the people who are truly happy are also the ones who embrace life and take chances and do the impossible. They feel life, both the good and the bad, but they don't dwell on the bad. They don't spend time regretting the things they have done. They keep moving forward and anticipate the great things to come. These people are no different than you or me. The only difference is our focus.

Worry

If you are like me, all too often you find yourself worrying about things that may or may not occur. What has caused us to worry about these things?

Most of us have had our ups and downs, but all in all, things really haven't been horrible. We all have had times in our life we thought we wouldn't get through, but looking back, they usually don't seem as bad as we thought they were at the time. Why then, do we continue to worry about what may or may not happen in the future?

When we worry, not only do we imagine things being worse than they usually are, but we never know how each occurrence will affect our life. Many times, the things that hurt the most open us up to the best experiences later. Maybe having the person walk out on you opens your eyes and heart to someone much better. Maybe getting fired will force you to take the chance on what turns out to be the job of your dreams.

We never know what is going to happen in the future. We never know what good will come from seemingly bad things. Of course we don't want horrible things to happen, but good may just come from it. Even if the worst does happen, it might be because the best things needed it to enter your life. Worrying won't stop things from happening. All it does is keep you from enjoying the present.

Keep Pushing

Our life brings a strange collection of ups and downs, good and bad, success and failure. Many of us strive for more ups than downs, more good than bad and more success than failure. This is a normal reaction to each type of event. But, when we strive for these are we missing out on chances and risks which may pay off even more? If we fear failure, do we limit the success we can have? When we fear the bad, do we limit the amount of good?

Life is about taking chances and trying new things and doing things differently. Life is about figuring out who we are and what we can offer the world. Is it possible to truly find yourself without all of the above? Can we really know success if we have never risked enough to fail? We will never produce great work if we are constantly striving to not fail, to not do bad work. Dealing with the downs, the bad, the failures---these are the lessons we must have. We have to learn how to overcome, how to keep the down times from eating at our soul and keeping us from trying and risking again.

When we push ourselves and really try, there will be times when we don't succeed. Instead of dwelling on the failure, we must learn from it and try again. This is the only way we will be able to do great work. Everyone fails. The world is not against you. Shit happens. Don't let it ruin your day, your month or your year. Figure out why things failed and then try again in a new and better way. Keep learning and pushing and sooner or later you will get the up, the good, the success. When you have dealt with the others, these will taste so much sweeter.

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