Hi guys! Welcome to Episode 121 of the Wildly Successful Lifestyle podcast! Don’t forget if you love this episode to Subscribe and give me a 5 star rating and if you really want to go the extra mile, copy the link and share it with a friend!
I have a question for you. Do you think it is ok to expect other people to change in order for you to feel a certain way?
It seems in this world people are wanting so badly to tell you what to do and what to think. They also want to tell you what to do so that other people can feel a certain way. I wonder what your thoughts are about that?
I’m writing this on the beach in Mexico. Travel is a big part of our life and we were super excited to be able to travel out of the country again. The locals are so grateful that we are here because tourism feeds their families. We went on a tour to a couple beautiful Cenotes yesterday. The tour guide was so grateful to us for being here, he thanked us sincerely for it. my heart goes out to those that rely on tourism for income, that’s hard right now. But there are some that would tell you traveling is selfish at the moment due to COVID, but tell that to the people here in Mexico who feed their families by tourism. So to those that say it’s irresponsible to travel, I don’t see it that way but it doesn’t bother me that someone else sees it that way because their thoughts and their ideas have nothing to do with me. You see, being open to looking at the other side of the story is a super power as well.
There are always two sides to every story and everyone has reasons for the way they think and most of the time, it has nothing to do with you.
So, If you have been listening for a while you know that the theme of living a “Wildly Successful Lifestyle” is all about thinking for ourselves and also making sure that we take personal responsibility for every aspect of our life, especially our health and our happiness. This is also a superpower. Once you recognize it and then master it, you will notice how things around you just seem to fall into place and when something doesn’t go exactly your way, you will know that’s because you are meant for something better or it’s working for you in a way that you didn’t expect. That’s how life works. Life is working FOR us not TO us. Just like the Navy seal Jocko Willink says when things are going bad, SOMETHING good is going to come from it. You didn’t get that promotion? Good, more time to get better. Got injured? Good, you needed a break from training. Got beat? Good, you learned. There is no downside to thinking this way. When you take personal responsibility for every aspect of your life then you realize that what other people do or think doesn’t affect you unless you let it.
But how the heck do we do that? How do we take personal responsibility for our life and our happiness without depending on other people to change or depending on other people to act a certain way?
People have reasons they do what they do. Let them do it and don’t take it personally. Most of the time they have no idea what’s truly going on your world are and you have no idea what’s going on in theirs. Assuming things or trying to read people’s minds is the cause of a lot of problems. My contractor was telling me a story recently. He went to Florida to visit his daughter, he rented a car and after driving for about 30 minutes he realized it would shake violently once you got above 55. He was too far gone to turn around and so here he is on the interstate driving the best he can, while cars are honking at him and one guy even expressed his irritation to him with gestures imagine that…my contractor said “they all had no idea I like to drive fast and would have LOVED to be going 80 right along with them but I couldn’t, but they didn’t know that so they were irritated I’m sure”. Those people had no idea what he was dealing with.
You see if you go into every scenario with another person realizing they have a life that revolves around them and you have a life that revolves around you and that is perfectly ok. If we all just focus on doing the best we can and giving every person that we meet grace. Right now, I think we need grace more than any time I can remember. Nerves are frayed because of COVID regulations. You are NOT alone if you have feelings of exasperation or feelings of being fed up with being told to wear your mask properly by an 18 year old. You aren’t alone if you’re in a country that is still in lock down. There are LOTS of people that feel the same way you do, but here’s the thing…you don’t control that and the main thing you can do right now is You have to take care of yourself and your mental and physical health more than ever right now. I know that’s hard but you CAN do it. You owe it to yourself to wake up every single day and keep in some routine that sets your mindset on a path of good thoughts and happiness rather than negative thoughts which is rampant in the media right now. You owe it to yourself to be in the best physical and mental shape you possibly can, if COVID has taught us anything it is that for sure. But also think of the word grace whenever you feel irritated by someone.
Every single person you meet, including your partner most of the time, has their own perspective and filter to every single scenario, even minor ones and this is what makes the world such an interesting place.
People bring with them a lifetime of experiences that filter the way they view everything. While we were at breakfast the other day in Mexico an older couple came into the restaurant with masks on that said fully vaccinated, it was so funny to hear the different reasons me and my friends thought they were wearing those. One thought it was to shame others into getting the vaccine, another thought they were making fun of the idea that they were vaccinated and still had to wear masks and another thought it was because they wanted everyone to feel safe that they were vaccinated. So many different viewpoints on just one little event. On that topic…
There have been a lot of conversations about the vaccine. Here’s my take. We all have to do our own research.
If you feel the vaccine is right for you then take it and don’t look back, if you don’t feel it’s right for you then you shouldn’t take it until you feel it is and if that is never then so be it. Again, this is your responsibility to do your own research on it. And it doesn’t matter what other people think or do. As of right now, it’s your choice and I believe it’s nobody’s business but yours and your family’s decision. OK done with that.
My challenge to you this week is to go into every scenario knowing that the world is working for you, not to you and recognize that every situation you have with another person, you have no idea what’s really going on in their life, nor they yours so give them grace just like Billy, my contractor…If someone is going slower than you’d like,…don’t get upset…just go around. If someone doesn’t want the vaccine, it’s not going to affect you. And if something doesn’t go the way you thought it should, say GOOD. Something better is on its way. I love you guys and I’ll talk to you in a few days.
