What’s In It for Me?
Why I’m Finished Being Selfish
What do you want to accomplish before you die? Can you imagine yourself as an “old” person? Do you see your friends and family by your side while you’re on your death bed? Do you want to raise productive and respectable children and provide for them so they can be good adults? Do you want to leave your family money when you die?
These are some of the questions that have been going through my mind over the last couple of weeks. I believe I’ve answered these questions and many more. I’ve come to realize that my life’s purpose is to be kind to people and to make this world a better place to live for everybody, to the best of my ability of course. I have a career and want to earn money and provide for my future family, but outside of that I want to do as many small acts of kindness that I possibly can, just for the possibility that I may brighten someones day. I realize that I will have good and bad days ahead, but I have made it my #1 goal to be a better and nicer person to everyone. Over the last couple weeks, I’ve been able to instantly catch myself having a bad attitude and adjust it immediately. I’ve gone out of my way to be nice to people and talk to people that I normally would not have. I’ve found that people are great!
I’ve also found that when you show people kindness, they show kindness back to you (well, usually!). This seems like a simple concept and you may say, “well, of course”, but for the simple minded like myself, I didn’t realize that I was being offstandish with people in my life. I didn’t appreciate the diversity of people, and respect that diversity. Of course I don’t believe that I’m a racist or bigot, but the way I was treating people was not right. To be honest, it took a huge life altering jolt to realize the error of my ways (which happened about 3 weeks ago). It was unfortunate that the life altering jolt had to happen, but that event will end up being the best thing that has ever happened to me in my life.
I was in a relationship that wasn’t working. I had alienated friends with my bad attitude and by not caring. I was not exercising, eating well, working hard, or anything else that coincides with my beliefs as a person. The first week after my life altering experience, I thought my world had ended. How could I ever rebound from this situation? It was everything I could do to just make it to the next day. Then it hit me! I don’t have to live like this! I made a conscious decision to change my life! I’ve had epiphany’s like this before, such as when I quit smoking cigarettes, and I am very excited about this change in my life because I know I’m going to make it happen! I truly believe that we all have the power to make any change we want in our lives. There is not a situation that is too bad that we can not get ourselves out of. I know I have a LOT of hard work ahead of me, but I know that I will be making new friends along the way that will support me. That’s the thing about looking for what you can do for others and spreading kindness, if you do enough good deeds for others, others will want to start doing good deeds for YOU! I knew this concept years ago, but was too selfish to implement it. I had a bad attitude and thought that everything I thought was the right way to do things and I know we’ve all thought that once in a while, even if we won’t admit it!
So what’s happened over the last couple weeks? I’ve started talking with and being nicer to people everywhere I’ve gone, and I’ve found that I’m making friends hand over fist now with my new attitude. My confidence is building and I’ve lost weight from eating a healthier diet and exercising almost daily. I’ve renegotiated my salary and now have a more stable work-life. Ultimately, I’ve just decided to start loving life and I am completely amazed at the progress I’ve seen over the last couple of weeks. I know that with my new attitude, hard work, and a little bit of luck, I will meet someone that will want to share the rest of their life with me and start a family. I want to teach my kids from the very beginning how to be good people and the right way to treat people. It may have taken me many years to finally realize that I was headed down the wrong path, but I believe I have seen the light, and I will not let this opportunity pass me by.
You have the power in you to do whatever you want and to make any changes in your life that you want. You truly do. If you’re a smoker, just think about how many people quit smoking per day. Those non-smokers are people just like you, and yes, it really was that difficult for them too! Trust me, I smoked about a pack a day until I quit about a year ago and I feel like it took about 2 weeks for the hallucinations to stop after I quit smoking, I mean, I wanted one BAAAADLY!!! Ultimately, just make a decision that you are going to start or stop doing something and then DO IT! There will be nobody holding you back except yourself. You will have obstacles and road blocks, as with anything in life, but expect those things to arise, and you can and will succeed. Make a promise to yourself that you are going to change NO MATTER WHAT! That’s what I had to tell myself over and over again when I quit smoking and that’s what I’m telling myself again, “I WILL SUCCEED NO MATTER WHAT!”
I am very excited about the future and I know I will bring much love, life, and happiness to this world. I can already see it. Can you see yours?
(To continue the theme of a post I put out a few days ago entitled “Home is Where the Heart Is“… Enjoy this music.)
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Sarah Hartwell...
I wish everyone could live in peace! Also, congratulations on quitting smoking Matt! I have been t...
Copers...
Good post. I agree we need to help other people because what goes around comes around!...
I wish everyone could live in peace! Also, congratulations on quitting smoking Matt! I have been trying to quit too and it’s good to know other people can do it and struggle as I do.