We all reach a low at one time or another. Mine was recent. And while I don’t reach out often, when I did I got this response in return:

“The first thing to do is embrace love and try to remove the pain. Try not to take anger out on the people you love. Take it out with a pen and paper, photos or a blog. Try to keep your thoughts focused on love, life and forgiveness. Think back on your favorite moments of the day at the end of everyday. Your last thoughts should be the happiest. Then in the morning tell yourself that it is going to be a good day, because you’re going to try and do just that. Remember that we control how we feel. Nobody makes us feel anything…and we can’t let let the physical world fuck with our sense of well-being in our minds. Life is too short.”

Such wisdom came from a lovely friend of mine, a lady who unfortunately it pretty ill but chooses to fight, to live, and pass on wisdom she has accumulated through this experience and from the rest of her life:

What I’m finding out is that much of what makes up life is our choices. We choose how we act and react. We choose how we internalize what we’re told and what we see. We choose our perceptions. & ultimately we choose how we experience life.

I think we all could use someone like this in our lives. Someone to provide us with clarity, someone to set us straight when we feel like the world is collapsing around us. I’m sure if people chose to take a step back and listen rather than to panic and freak out that they would realize they too have a person like this in their life. Our advice: to surround yourself with people who bring out the good in you, & the people who allow you think differently, outside of your comfort zone, who offer you an alternative way of viewing a situation, optimists, those you will thank for such wisdom and guidance when your own youth has left.

By default negativity stands out far more than anything positive. At least that’s what we’re taught/told. That can be changed. Acknowledging everything that we are as humans can help this perception. When something doesn’t go as planned, acknowledge it, accept it, and continue on. What does dwelling do? & anger? Esp regarding the things we cannot control–which is most things in life. I’ve worked on minimizing expectations because without them I’m not disappointed. Instead, I let life happen and accept it for what it is. We have much to be grateful for even on the poorest of days–we just can’t allow negativity cloud reality.

“The sun is perfect and you woke this morning. You have enough language in your mouth to be understood. You have a name, and someone wants to call it. Five fingers on your hand and someone wants to hold it. If we just start there, every beautiful thing that has and will ever exist is possible. If we start there, everything, for a moment, is right in the world.”
— Warsan Shire