You – yes you out there, do you know that you are amazing and that you have achieved a lot more than you are willing to give yourself credit? It is human nature to focus on the things that do not go so well, and on things that we have not been able to achieve, and overall be really hard on ourselves. How about being proud for a change, of what we have achieved and stop taking our strengths and ‘victories’ for granted. Every day that we live and do even one small thing to make our lives better, means that that we have been ‘victorious’. The fact is that we are hard-wired to focus on what we do not have and in doing so continue to lose focus of what we actually do have. I am as guilty of this as you are. Rather than being discouraged by everything that is missing or wrong, we must make it a habit to focus on all the things we have done ‘right’.
- We have a roof over our head and food on our plate – this may be two of the things that we take for granted the most. However, if we look around we will realize that the fact that we have these things means that we have done well enough for our families and ourselves. We should be glad that we have a nice and cosy place to call our own, and consider ourselves lucky that we are to be able to work in order to afford this place and put a wholesome and healthy meal on the table whenever we want.
- We have people who love us – we are not alone. Our family and friends are there for us – they love us and do the best for us. They appreciate us and bear all our shortcomings with love – is it not disrespectful to them that we forget to consider them as blessings and give ourselves credit for building these relationships with them. Look around – broken and separated families, families that hate each other, a world filled with people out to harm us at any opportunity they may get, people living on the street or languishing in jail with no one to love them, and all those who spend their days alone wishing they had someone to share their lives with.
- Even if we hate our job and the people at the workplace – the fact that we are capable and intelligent enough to have a job, is enough to give ourselves credit for – statistics show that there are millions of people unemployed and the figure continues to rise.
- So what – we all experience failure. Moreover, the fact that we have experienced it means that we have received opportunities and have had several chances to grow and become better. Every failure is a learning opportunity – so being hard on ourselves because we failed means that we are treating ourselves unfairly. What we need to focus on is that we picked ourselves up despite the amount of hardships and strength it took to do so – we acknowledged our adversities and emerged a lot stronger than we ever thought we could be.
- Despite the overwhelming situations, we should know that even if we have become better in one area of our life, we should celebrate. Every little improvement means that we are moving ahead, and are not sliding back to where we started out. Not everyone can be good at everything – so it is futile to make comparisons or feel sorry that you do not have the ability that someone else does. Have you ever thought, that the capabilities and skills that you have are probably the subject of envy for someone else? Something to be proud of, right.
I could go on about all the things that we should but do not give credit to ourselves for, but I guess you now have a fair idea of what I am saying. We must see life as a constant learning experience – which means that we are not expected to be perfect or even not make mistakes. All that we do need is to remain focused on improving to become a better person, and give ourselves credit for every small victory. As humans, we are bound to remain unhappy with some part of our life but that just means that we have room for improvement and can become better with each day. As of now, know that you – yes you are amazing and doing a lot better than you give yourself credit. Chin up and smile! J