“Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors”
Life will always bring hard times, it is bound to happen. Just like the ocean, there will always be waves. You will never see an ocean remain perfectly still. Some waves may be smaller than others but they are always there. We cannot control what comes to us, in other words, we cannot control the situations we are put in (to an extent). But what we can control is our reaction and the meaning we choose to give the situation. Because that inner representation of an event is always up to us to decide. We can control who we choose to become from that event. Life is happening for you to grow, every challenging event is occurring for you to take something from it and come out better on the other side of it.
We can always choose who we want to be, how we want to act, and how we want to feel. Even if it seems out of out control sometimes. That is actually the one thing we can control. That is where your power lies. I read this quote that says
“Tell everyone you know: ‘My happiness depends on me, so you’re off the hook’. And then demonstrate it. Be happy, no matter what they’re doing. Practice feeling good, no matter what. And before you know it, you will not give anyone else responsibility for the way you feel – and then, you’ll love them all. Because the only reason you don’t love them, is because you’re using them as your excuse to not feel good.”
We have been lead to believe that in tying our happiness around someone or some event in the future is how we will achieve happiness. Saying “I’ll be happy when I get this” or “I’ll be happy when this person does this” or even “If only this person loved me the way I loved them, then I could be happy”. We assign so much of our happiness to others, simply waiting for them or life to give us what we want in order to feel happy. Them being a key to your heart that apparently has happiness locked up until they show up to unlock it. We are all guilty of saying this, and tying our happiness to the future. But let me ask you this, when it happened, were you happy?
When you got that job, met that person, went to that place, did it give you that happiness you associated to it? The answer is no, because I can assure you that what that event gave you was temporary happiness. It made you feel good for a while until it eventually brought you back down and then you started to assign happiness to some other future event, saying this time if this happens i’m really going to be happy. I know this because I’ve been there, we’ve all been there. So clearly those outside events aren’t where we will find happiness. Why? Because the future never arrives, we must start to feel good now. Be happy now, with what we have now, because guess what we’re alive, living on this floating rock. The odds of that alone are a miracle. Life is a gift, and if we don’t open up our eyes to that it’ll pass us by and we’ll be left asking “where did that time go.” Personal growth and learning to show gratitude to everything you have in your life in this present moment, takes time. But it may just be the best way you can spend your time.
Make those goals and take steps towards them everyday, but always remember that your happiness does not come from them. It comes from you. Even though it may seem like the situations in your life are what make you feel, the truth is that you make you feel. You give those situations and people the power to make you feel a certain way, but it’s always you who allows that feeling to come in. So if we realize this then we can also realize that we can feel happy now, for no reason. I can feel grateful now, for no reason. I can laugh right now, and there doesn’t have to be any other reason other than because I want to. That’s where you realize that you hold the power over your emotions. Smile, simply because you can. Be grateful, simply because you’re breathing. Because that beautiful heart of yours is keeping you alive. Because you can tie your shoes. You can be grateful for anything and everything.
I invite you to open up your eyes to the good that is already in your life, the things in your life you can be grateful for. I promise you that they’re there. They don’t have to be big things, the deeper you go, the more you’ll realize that the smallest things are what make life beautiful. The cells that make up your body are working so hard for you, if you want to know what love feels like, feel that. Millions of cells die every second for your well-being, they literally give their lives for yours. Your body is working for you to be alive, what more can you ask for. You’re alive in this beautiful world. If you look closely, I promise you that you’ll find that that there is so much to be grateful for. And when you feel that gratitude, it opens up a channel for you to receive so much more to be grateful for. It is the law of the universe that like attracts likeness. When you feel gratitude, there is no other option than to attract even more gratitude. Because you don’t attract what you want, you attract what you are. Try it out for yourself and see. Don’t take my word for it, embrace this in your life and watch the beauty unfold. Test it and take note on the results.
And remember, everything you need to achieve everything you desire is already within you. You just need to know where to look.
Until next time friend,
Camila Tracanelli
