Life is short.
My brother recently reminded me of this, and no truer words have ever been spoken.
And I’m immediately going to contradict myself a little here, because I’m not sure life is necessarily short (it is what it is) – but we should be milking as much as we can out of every second of it. I mean, that’s the real sentiment of ‘life is short.’
Sometimes bad things happen that we can’t change. Sometimes bad things happen that we can. But the one thing we can always change is our reaction to everything.
I know that’s easier said than done – emotions can, after all, feel uncontrollable during extreme circumstances or situations. But for the most part – definitely in everyday life and ordinary ups and downs – the greatest power you have is controlling how much you can get out of a situation. And by ‘get’, I mean how much enjoyment you can squeeze from it. If you can’t change something, why not make the best of it?
Because really think about it – how many of your “stresses” are truly life and death? How much are you overthinking or catastrophising or expecting more from or aiming for perfection? Life is short. Today will be tomorrow in the blink of an eye, so don’t waste it. Work out how to get the very most out of every moment, and let go of thoughts that are going to pull you down. Seriously: let it all go.
I used to hate when people would say “just think positive”, because it’s not always that easy (although I am starting to learn it’s a skill, like a muscle that can be trained up). But this isn’t what I’m saying. You can always take a situation or a moment or this very second, and work out how you can get the most enjoyment out of it. Maybe that’s to smile, or scream, or to stop stressing. Maybe it’s to give someone a compliment, or do something you’ve always wanted to do (yes, right now). Maybe it’s to stand up or call someone or dance or eat or sing or think about how grateful you are for something. Maybe it’s to turn a super long queue into a social occasion (talk to that person next to you!), or a boring chore into a game. Sometimes it might be to cry. You don’t have to change how you’re feeling about something or convince yourself to feel better when you’re sad. Just find the good.
Because life is short. You don’t know when your number is going to be called – so don’t waste even a second of whatever time you have.
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