I wrote a piece called 4 Things I Know for my newsletter a few weeks ago. Many readers have asked me to resend them the link because they wanted to go back and read it again. I figured, why not just post it here?
Life gets really hard sometimes. Like, super hard. Like, super really extraordinarily hard. It’s those moments that define you as a person—not the moments themselves, but how you process them. How you react to them. That inspired this post. <3
I hope you’re having a lovely, not-so-hard summer filled with all the books (and air conditioning!).
xo,
Addy
I’ve been really introspective lately. It’s something I find myself doing from time-to-time, especially when I feel like chaos of the world is starting to get to me. Instead of acting out, sometimes I “act in”—meaning, I climb inside myself and try to block out the noise.
This last round of introspection has led me to four things I’d like to share with you today. They’re simple, not world-changing things, but things I’ve found to be of value to me as of late. I hope you can take one of them with you as you click out of this email.
1. Happiness is a habit.
It’s the same theory as “you are what you eat” (which is also true). Life is habits, good or bad, and your happiness is no different. If you practice waking up in the morning irritated or already hating the day, guess what? You’re going to hate your day. If you practice seeing the good in things, you’ll default after a while to that too. I figure if I’m going to train my brain, purposefully or unintentionally, to be happy or sad, I’ll do the little extra work and aim for happiness. I started by pausing every time I went to the bathroom (gross, but you know you do it too – ha!) and thinking about one happy thing. It’s expanded from there. Try it. Let me know how it goes.
2. Life only stays the same if you do.
Consider that for a second, okay? If you’re changing, so will your life. If you’re sitting on the couch, feeling sorry for yourself or going to a job you absolutely hate with no energy to even see what else is out there, life’s gonna repeat itself day in and day out. But if you decide to go for a walk today or figuring out what skill set you have that you aren’t using, things will change. Even if it’s your mindset (which is the biggest catalyst to real change there is!). The constant in all of this is YOU. It’s all up to you.
3. You teach people how to treat you.
Sounds crazy, right? It’s true though. People will treat you as you allow them. People will treat you as they see you treat yourself. Do you treat yourself with respect? Do you set boundaries and make decisions that are good for you? If not, how can you expect anyone else to do any differently? If you let people run you ragged or talk to you like dirt—trust me, they will continue because you let them. Love yourself. Respect yourself. You’re doing the best you can. When you start doing these things, you’ll notice people will see you in a new light too.
4. You are stronger than you think you are.
We’ve all been through, and continue to go through, some pretty stressful things in our lives. How many times do you want to crawl back in bed, pull the covers over your head, and forget it all? How often do you want to just completely give up and say, ‘screw it’? Me? A lot of times. But how many times do you truly do that? I’m guessing not often. You see, we may feel exposed and vulnerable and weak to the world. And we might be. But we don’t quit. We may have moments, sure, but we keep going. Somehow, we keep going. That, my friends, is strength. Look back at what you’ve been through and realize this: you made it. Maybe a little worse for the wear, but you did it. You can make it through anything.
