Gain a new perspective on how to appreciate all those in our life.
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Welcome to the Be Your Best Self Blog by Marsha Abbott.
"I Can Finally See!"
I had a revolution recently, and it made me realize that all this time I have been blind…but now…I can finally see…
“Live like you were dying.” – Tim McGraw’s famous song! I love the lyrics and the meaning behind it. It gets me every time. And I believe we can learn a lot by viewing life this way. Heck, I have even blogged about this a couple of times! So living life to the fullest is very important because we just can’t ever know what the future will hold for us. But recently, I have realized that I have been walking around blind in life with this notion or way of life. Because there is something much more important than for us to live like we are dying. Instead, I believe we need to “live like we are living.”
Are you confused yet? Do you still feel blind…like I was before? If so, then let me try to explain…
I don’t like to cuss in these blogs. In fact, I try not to cuss at all in life…although slip ups sure do happen! So I am going to politely call this like it is. Lately, at home, I have been a big, huge “B” word. And I mean like really bad. I can’t even explain why. Maybe it’s because my husband has been sick for a month with a bad cold, so I have had to take on more. Maybe it’s because my teenage son seems to find every possible way to give me gray hair and it’s overwhelming. Or maybe it’s just the hustle and bustle of life that has me on edge. Whatever the case, I haven’t been very nice to most of the people in my life, and my family seems to get the brunt end of it.
Do you do this too? Do you catch yourself being rude to your family or maybe even to your parents? Do you find yourself holding on to a grudge with a friend that should long ago have been resolved? Or maybe it has even extended way beyond that, and you catch yourself being rude to random strangers like the wait staff or a manager at a restaurant? Or possibly it’s even your mechanic, hairdresser, or your doctor? And it’s probably even the car driving next to you as you give them the finger for cutting you off.
Whatever the situation, we all have done this a time or two. And lately, I have been doing it a whole heck of a lot. So after a few weeks of having this bad attitude (on and off), I decided to take a step back, and I started to think about how this was making my family and those people in my life feel. How were my words and actions affecting them? If I had to guess, I probably wasn’t making them feel very good. Especially my husband, who always seems to get the brunt end of “my crazy” on a regular basis.
So I took a step back and thought about how I can do better moving forward. I knew it meant a change of perspective from my end. I started to think about how short life is for EVERYONE, not just me. And how would I feel if something unexpectedly happened to a member of my family or to a good friend of mine? How would I feel if most of my interactions with them lately haven’t been my best self? And then I realized it extends way beyond just my family. How would I feel if someone I had been mean to unexpectedly passed, and my hatred was one of the last experiences they had in this life?
And suddenly, my blindness lifted, and I could finally see!
I finally saw that it was time for me to start to “live like I am living” instead of living like I were dying. I was no longer blind, and so the focus was no longer on me. With my newfound sight, I was seeing more clearly everyone else around me and how I was affecting them. So it was time for me to finally start living like every person around me could be dying. It was time for me to make this change.
So how am I going to do this? I can only see one solution - to start appreciating my family more. To start showing them that appreciation more often. And most importantly, to start projecting that kindness to not only my family but to everyone else I encounter in my life…even that bad driver that decides to cut me off. Because with my new sight, I realized that with all of these people, well you just never know what the future has in store for them. So why not treat everyone like today is going to be their last day!?!
Now do you know what I mean? And if so, could those in your life benefit from you making this change too? If so, then I have one more thing to share that I believe will help you emerge fully from this blindness. I believe that not only will these changes help those in your life to feel move loved and appreciated, but I am certain it will help you too…
We will start to appreciate those small things in life…like a family meal together or the good feeling that comes with offering a kind gesture to a stranger. We will feel happier by getting rid of that useless anger we all tend to carry around with us. And finally, we will be less stressed by letting go of the little things in life that really don’t matter…like a disagreement with a friend or a fight with our significant other.
I must admit, I have been a big time “B” word to most of the people in my life and especially to my family. So it’s time to change. It’s time to live like I am living and like everyone else could be dying. That way, they will always know and remember how much they are loved and appreciated in this life. It’s hard to believe that all of this time I have been blinded as to what I needed to change, but now I know just want I need to do. Now I know because for once in my life...I can finally see!
*For those of you struggling with something in life or have a topic of interest that you want me to talk about in this blog, email me at BeYourBestSelfBlog@gmail.com. Let’s work together to Be Our Best Selves!