Life. Love. The pursuit of happiness. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
It's a journey that takes us on a moment-to-moment adventure driven by countless motivating factors. Some are positive. Others are negative. We find ourselves either moving towards something good or away from something bad.
I don't think that many people would ever expend the time and effort to differentiate between the two. But how we view these motivators, at the most basic level, can directly impact our lives, our relationships, and our happiness.
Are you focusing on the presence of positives or the absence of negatives? The differences can be subtle but substantial.
We can be moving toward something good, basing our behaviors and actions on the presence of positives in our world.
Goals. Relationships. Love. Fulfillment. Self-actualization.
There is an exquisite beauty and clarity of moving forward in life with the presence of positives guiding you.
But we can also be moving away from something bad, basing our behaviors and actions on the absence of negatives in our world.
It isn't so bad. Work isn't great, but it isn't bad either. My relationship isn't great, but they are never perfect are they?
Perhaps this is driven by fear of the unknown or simply breaching our own comfort zones if we do so. We find excuses at every turn. Hey, you can rationalize just about anything with the right excuse and spin on it. We end up focusing our efforts on a life lived with the absence of negatives. We end up with a life that is, well, good - enough.
Life is too short to just be good - enough. Life is too short to not have that "wow" factor built in. Of course, life isn't always "wow" and there are a multitude of factors at play every day. Sometimes, there is just too much inertia to battle - at least in this moment. Sometimes, the timing just isn't right. And sometimes, there are just mundane moments that tie together the "wow" moments.
When we make decisions based on the presence of positives, then the excuses just slip away. We're all in. And when we are on the journey and we are invested, truly invested, in it, then excuses become an afterthought.
Wouldn't we all be better off to discard the fear, the inertia, the self doubt and self sabotage? Wouldn't we be better living in the presence of positives, even when those positives may be hard to find? Simply expressing gratitude can be a step in the right direction towards this even on the most difficult of days.
Therein lies one of the great challenges of life. It is the choice to live a life based on the presence of positives - and not the absence of negatives.
Which choice are you making today?
Photo credits: josemanuelerre
"Running Injuries: Etiology And Recovery- Based Treatment" (co-author Bridget Clark, PT) appears in the recently released third edition of "
" by S. Brent Brotzman, MD and Robert C. Manske, PT.
