Going into the holiday season I think this message is a very important one. The quote from Bob Marley above defines someone who quarrels every day as saying prayers to the devil. In many ways this is true. If your days are filled with lament about the state of the world, the price of everything or maybe about the rude and insensitive coworker you have, you are indeed saying prayers to the devil. Why do we say that? Let us take a look.
When someone focuses on what is wrong in their life, that is all they tend to see. What we choose to focus on becomes the dominant reality of our world. You can have a terrible coworker and also have many good ones. You can even be grateful you have a job. Both of those facts can be true at the same time. Which one you focus on will determine your reality. Focus on how annoying one person is and your day will be one of annoyance. Focus on the good coworkers you have and the annoying person will fade from your attention. It can be true that the price of everything in rising, but we can still afford some things. We may not be able to do or purchase what we want, but if we have food, clothing and shelter we are damn lucky. Again, both can be true and what we focus on will change how we see, and more importantly, how we feel our world.
This mindset change can be difficult enough in trying times. What the title of this post, and our point here today, is that you should not compound the difficulty. What do we mean? Who we surround ourself with has a HUGE impact on our emotional well-being. Surround yourself with those who “get down and quarrel everyday’ as Mr. Marley put it, and they will make it next to impossible for you to feel good. If, on the other hand, you surround yourself with those who encourage and uplift, even the trying times become more bearable.
During the holidays, this becomes even more important. We can be exposed to all kinds of stress. That is why we need to spend people who lift us up. It will sustain us during the stressful times. Set up your new year for success by using the last month to discover and grow your group on inspiring souls. It will transform your life.
