Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Not everything is about you

So, after a 24-hour+ migraine, I am finally feeling a bit more like myself. I still have a bit of a headache, but it is manageable now, and not the type where the light feels like it is stabbing my brain, and food actually stays down. So I'm good.

Anyway, I got to thinking the other day about some pretty deep things. Like how life moves, people change, and somehow we all find a way to enjoy everything around else. Most of us do, anyway.

I don't let people get to me anymore. That SUV that cut me off in the construction zone on Monday after work would have driven the old me absolutely crazy. I would have cursed the rest of the way home. Instead, I just said, "What an asshole," then concentrated on not rear-ending the stupid Hummer in stop-and-go traffic on Lincoln Way. In less than a block, I was able to just ignore it. I was happier for it, that's for sure, and I did not end up with a worse headache than I already had because of something I could not control. Yes, traffic is going to suck due to construction, but I can either deal with it, or be in a bad mood for the next month or so until it is finished. I know what I'll pick.

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "You have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage and with the best that you have to give." I keep this quote in mind in whatever I have to do. She also said that no one can make you feel inferior unless you allow them to. That also has been a guiding thought for me for many, many years.

These two things are paramount in happiness. If you know that you did your best, stay true to who you are, and don't let others keep you down, you will at least have the basis for happiness. If you are always concerned about what other people think, or think too much about others yourself, or if you blame others for what's wrong in your life, you cannot be happy.

Just let yourself be happy. "The Universe tends to unfold as it should."