Dealing With Mistakes That Other People Make



Appreciate the small stuff and you’ll be happy. You hear it enough.
But what is happiness anyway?
Today GenuLines looks at appreciation and its “kissin’ cousin”, contentment.
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Most emotions are transitional, meaning you’re never in one state for long periods. People who are considered upbeat will have moments of sadness or depression.
Even depressed people aren’t depressed all the time. They have moments of happiness, too.
Think about a major event such as a war. When two countries are fighting, both sides lose lives.
It’s bloody, and it can last for years. But, when the war is over, the countries are euphoric.
There will be no more bloodshed because of the war, and people can return to their homes. But, nothing that has changed in the world except that the war has ended.
In other words, the sun still sets each day. People still have to manage their lives.
The euphoria from the war ending doesn’t last long. Months later, the war is still over, but the euphoria has died down.
The same is true in a smaller way when you have a bad sickness. For instance, suppose you have a stomach bug that leaves you uncomfortable and in pain.
When the bug passes you feel fine. But you don’t feel any better than you did when you weren’t experiencing the bug.
It’s relative to the bad feelings. That’s how emotional states work.
They go from one to the other on a constant basis.
Appreciating the small things in life may lead to happiness. But, it’s likely you’re content more than you are happy.
Contentment can almost be thought of as a neutral state, leaning toward the happy side. There’s nothing wrong when you’re content.
But, there also isn’t anything that is making you overly happy.
Striving for happiness can be stressful. You might want to shoot for contentment instead.
Contentment is likely to find you when you appreciate small aspects of your life.
And it comes without the hassle of working hard toward happiness.
If you spend most of your life being content you’re doing something right. Think about all the people you love and what you have, such as your health and a good job, etc.
If you try to imagine life without them, you will truly appreciate your contentment. That thought may even make you happy for a short period.
JohnK 2-26-2019
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Overheard: “My crown is called content, a crown that seldom kings enjoy”
~William Shakespeare
Photo by Belinda Fewings on Unsplash
Healthy, happy relationships are possible even when both parties don’t see eye to eye. Our guest today on Chi For Yourself is James L. Creighton, author of Loving Through Your Differences: Building Strong Relationships From Separate Realities.
The interview starts at 4 pm Eastern, 1 pm Pacific time at ChiForYourself.com
JohnK 2-7-2019
Overheard: “If you look for perfection, you’ll never be content”
You’ll see it when you believe it. Believe and achieve. I believe in you.
We all love a snappy belief slogan. But when it comes to self-belief things can get a bit trickier.
GenuLines reminds you that believing in yourself is the ultimate belief.
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You hear about how you have to believe in yourself. Ever wonder exactly why?
The simple answer is that practically no one else will. Your spouse and your family will believe in you to a certain extent.
But, when times get tough, family support tends to wane. It’s not that they don’t love and care about you.
They just stopped believing in you.
While this doesn’t always happen, it happens often enough to cause conflict.
For example, your spouse or parents might at first give you support on a new venture. But the venture doesn’t work out as they believe it should.
So they start to question whether you should continue with it. If your belief starts to weaken, you may take on their way of thinking.
The reason beliefs start to weaken is due to a fear of the unknown. When you start a new venture, everyone is excited for you and will tell you to give it your best shot.
But when the prospects of the business become murkier, that excitement turns to fear.
The problem is the path towards success for these ventures is not a straight line up. Having some bumps in the road is normal.
In fact, this is what defines the success of the enterprise, and the people who are taking risks. It should be welcomed and not feared.
The fear of the unknown may start to creep into your psyche. It’s easier to listen to your family and friends tell you to dissolve your venture because it’s failing.
They will continue down this negative path until you decide to stop. If you do choose to give up on your business, they will tell you that it wasn’t meant to be.
They’ll remind you that starting a business is difficult. That’s precisely the moment that you shouldn’t stop.
You don’t get ahead by quitting. If you believe in yourself, you would have had the conviction to see it through.
You would have the appropriate guidance to give you strength to surge ahead. You could have done it all while telling your family and friends to have some faith.
A firm belief in yourself would give you the courage to stand up to them.
Whatever venture you decide to pursue, know that only by continuing will you make it work.
Think of Thomas Edison and the lightbulb. While he didn’t invent the lightbulb (contrary to popular belief), he made ones that lasted longer.
Imagine if he decided to quit after he ran into a few stumbling blocks early on.
JohnK 1-29-2019
chiforyourself.com home
Photo by Samuel Zeller on Unsplash