When I was little, I used to love Winnie-the-Pooh. My favorite character was Piglet, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve grown partial to Eeyore.
Not only is he adorable (I have a stuffed animal of him at home that I keep in my room), but I feel like we are very similar. This is our shared mantra:
While I still love Eeyore, it’s time to lose a lot of his outlook. While I consider myself a happy person, I can’t say that I’m an optimist. I vary anywhere from a realist to a pessimist to even a cynic, if the mood is right.
Several years ago, I decided to change my life because I was sick and tired of being unhappy. I was so motivated to change that my quality of life improved and a lot of my sadness ebbed away for the first time in years. I’ve come to the realization that it’s time to reboot the same way I did several years ago; not because I’m unhappy, but because my attitude is starting to affect the way I view my life. For instance, I start feeling sad on Sunday nights and Mondays. It’s arguable that I have an understandable reason for feeling sad on these days, but isn’t living positively a better way of getting through these two days? Besides, it’s not like it will be Sunday or Monday forever. The week flies by pretty quickly once Monday is finished and it will soon be Friday, my favorite day, before I know it.
(Saying Friday is my favorite day is pretty useless, right? It’s like saying, “I enjoy breathing.”)
Another facet of myself I’d really love to change is my penchant for worrying. I won’t get into it too much, but those who know me well understand that I have a hard time shutting the worrying off. I saw something like this flowchart on my brother’s Facebook, and was immediately irritated:
Oh! It’s that easy! Okay, I’ll just stop worrying then. If only! I understand the point of this chart – to illustrate that worrying about a problem cannot change the outcome. I get and accept this. Still, it’s hard to stop worrying about something, especially if it’s all you know.
I’m currently reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, and it’s an excellent book so far. She felt like she was an otherwise happy person, but not as happy as she could be. The author took a series of projects and goals for a year to see if her happiness would be increased in any measure. The book is separated by her goals for the month (i.e. February is for love, March is for work, etc). The author is not didactic and freely admits when she makes mistakes or does not accomplish a goal as well as she should, making her completely relatable.
It won’t be easy or overnight, but I’ve learned that the most effective changes will occur in increments. I will update my blog if I make any substantial progress. I just want to lose my sometimes dour outlook, especially if I have so much to be grateful for! Having a positive attitude works wonders, and that I want to be my default attitude from now on.
