Keep On Keepin’ On

Day 39

“The only person you should be trying to be better than is the person you were yesterday.”

– Rajni Kurichh

For the last few days, I’ve been asking myself what it really means to be positive. Does it mean that I have to like everything? Does it mean that I can’t have an opinion on anything? Does it mean that I have to think everything is always good? I don’t believe so. I think it means to live authentically and find the good in every situation. I think it means to work at improving myself. When I woke up this morning, the message quoted above was the first thing I thought; the universe responded to my question.

Reprogramming your mind to see the positive takes time, and I expect that I’ll default to old programming if I’m not being mindful when I face a difficult situation. I expect that I’ll slip into old patterns and respond like I have in the past once in a while, but people around me expect that since I started this Positivity 365 Project, I will be positive all the time. Period. That doesn’t give me a lot of room for error. So, I struggle with myself if I don’t like something.

Being positive does not mean that I have to like everything. It means that I will not dwell on what I don’t want in my experience. It means that when I do come across something that I don’t like, I will handle it with grace, and then let it go. It means that when I do have a reflex reaction, I will recognize and acknowledge that the reaction is a pattern that I’m consciously trying to break, and then I’ll make an effort to respond more mindfully next time. That, I think I’m doing pretty well.

Still, people are quick to point out that I’m not being positive if I don’t like something. All I can do is thank them for making me aware of my old patterns, and continue to work towards a better me. That’s all any of us can do.

So, I say, listen to your own voice, and know that you are doing your very best. Have faith that the universe is guiding you every step of the way. And if you need to measure your progress, look in the mirror; every one else has their own journey too.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!