Just Put It On My Tab

Do you meet those successful people that seem to put a positive spin on everything? They seem happy all of the time. Nothing seems to bother them. What's wrong with these people? Don't they watch the news?

Are they just naive or in denial? Most of them I talk to don't seem to be. They seem to be grounded, successful, and living out their dreams. The embodiment of the carpe diem attitude.

Are some people just destined to be successful? I think most successful people had to get there the hard way. They hit rock bottom at some point in their life. But instead of letting that shape their life, they chose to rise up and break free from the grip of negative thoughts. They directly confronted the self-imposed barriers to their success and found there was no basis or truth to them.

Here are some I struggle with:

Not everyone can be successful.

I just didn't inherit the drive that my parents/grandparents had.

My life's not that great, but I don't deserve any better.

I made bad choices early in life and it's too late to change.

It will take too much work or money to learn the skills I need to pursue my dream.

There's no demand for what I really want to do and there are too many people already doing it better than I ever could.
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I recently hit rock bottom and was forced to confront my constant negative thoughts and assumptions. They were constantly playing like subconscious Muzak in the back of my head. But I chose to tune them out because I assumed everyone else had the same feelings.

I finally realized that there was no truth in them. And as a result, the roadblocks to true happiness and inner peace imploded like a house of cards. I now consciously choose to fill my head with positive thoughts and optimism. I'm learning to catch myself when the negative feelings come back.

To be truly happy you must learn the skills that allow your self-worth to be polished by life's bumps and bruises instead of cracked and weakened. When I "grow up" I want my positive attitude to radiate and cause people to think "What's up with that guy? I'll have whatever he's drinking!"

Photo by Kevin Harp