It’s Up To YOU

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When it comes to you succeeding in life, who is your enemy? Who is the one person who always ends up being your downfall, your undoing, your failure to finish? Does it seem odd that I am asking you this question? You may think that the answer to this question has the possibility to range from the  bully in sixth grade who spit on your new shoes and called you names to the cantankerous old man across the street who asked to borrow your shovel…and kept it. In reality however, the answer to this question, is you.

Let’s say that hypothetically, you were standing in a group, talking with some friends, when you feel a drop of water fall on your head. You look up to see where it came from and discover that you are standing directly underneath two pieces of intersecting roof, where water is dripping from the corner. You now have the information you need to make  a choice. One choice would be to continue to stand in the same place and let the water drip on your head.

It’s just a drop of water, right? What’s the harm in a drop or two of water? It isn’t a big deal. But let’s say you were standing there with a group of friends  waiting for a bus. You didn’t know it, but the bus broke down and has been sitting on the side of the road for over an hour. You don’t know it yet, but your plans have just been delayed, one or two drops of water  become much more and pretty soon, you’re soaked. To make matters worse, the sun is starting to set and  the temperature is  starting to drop. You’re getting  cold, but the bus is  nowhere to be seen. You continue to stand there, and the water continues to drip…one drop at a time. Before you know it, the sun has set, it is  completely dark and  you’re cold, wet and ornery. You start complaining about  your circumstances to your friends, who offer you very little sympathy or empathy. Why are they all in such a good mood anyway? The bus was supposed to be here hours ago, why aren’t they upset? Can’t they see that you are miserable? You start feeling sorry for yourself, thinking that if they were decent friends, they would do something to make you more comfortable or at least include you a little more in the conversation. You start rethinking your friendships with them, wondering why in the world you have them in your life to begin with. Obviously, they aren’t good friends, they haven’t even noticed that you haven’t contributed to the conversation  in the last 10 minutes. You end up telling them all what a bunch of inconsiderate losers they are and catching a cab to take you home. And there you are, in the back of a cab…wet, ornery and friendless.

Reading through that hypothetical scenario, you were probably thinking the same thing I was  as I wrote it. The entire situation could have been avoided had you  just taken a step to the right (or left) to a spot where there was no water dripping. It seems like a no brainer, doesn’t it? You’re probably thinking how stupid it is that I even wrote it…after all, any normal person wouldn’t just stand there and let water drip on their head, let alone for hours at a time. Or would they?

Unfortunately, the answer is yes. I see this type of behavior every single day. I’ll bet you do too, if you stop and think about it. That’s not to say that we will see people sitting underneath downspouts everyday, rather people who are their own worst enemies. Believe it or not, there are more people out there than not, who are so afraid of change,  that they will continue to stay in  a position that makes them miserable, that they will (and do) complain about for years and even entire lifetimes, making themselves and everyone around them miserable. Hmmmm, sounds pretty dumb, huh?

What it boils down to is this, every single one of us is responsible for where we are in our current situations. We have made the choices that have led us to where we are, nobody else. That’s not to say the choices of others do not affect us, because they most definitely do, only that  we cannot blame our current circumstances solely on the choices of others in our lives. So if you’re looking around and find yourself unhappy with one or more things in/about your life,  change it. You’re the only one who can.

If you are unhappy with your dietary intake, change it. If you are unhappy with your  current level of fitness, change it. If you are unhappy with your current weight, change it. If you don’t like being wet, step out of the way of the dripping water.

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