Positivity: Adulting
Adulting does not need to be arduous.
There are some major advantages to being an adult. You can come and go as you please, you get to choose your own bed time, you can hang out with any friends at any time in any place and there is nobody but you to tell you no.
Yes, I know that with adulthood comes certain responsibilities. We have to work jobs to buy food and clothing and housing and to pay for fun things we might prefer to do with our time. I also know that sometimes this is seriously lacking in fun.
The thing from childhood I think we often leave the most behind is joy. Not pleasure, not happiness, I’m writing about that elation, that joyful feeling when you did something you had never done before for the first time. That feeling of utter accomplishment when you were told “good job” or “well done” and the like.
All too often we take our daily activities as utterly unforgiving and ho-hum. I read various social media posts about failing to “adult” today or having issues with “adulting” due to appointments or meetings or other activities that we must be responsible for but might otherwise prefer not to do.
Quite the paradox how as children we look so forward to growing up, and then when we do we lament no longer being children. For a lot of people, this feels like a no-win situation.
Rather than focusing on what we no longer have, or being distraught about some aspect of adulthood, we should revel in it. We can find so much positivity in the control we have over our own lives, now that we are adults. We forget just how many choices we have, how many options every day can present to us.
It’s very easy to get caught up in the routines that we have and responsibilities we might prefer to avoid. We have a choice, however. Rather than becoming displeased or letting the things we would prefer not to do overwhelm us, we should instead look at the opportunities. We should focus on the fact that, hey, we might have things we must needs do, but they don’t have to be awful.
Yes, there are going to be times that this is completely unavoidable. If you don’t want to go to the dentist, be stuck in that meeting, deal with traffic court, stand in that line, make that phone call but it is something you must do, move through it. Give it the focus it requires at the immediate time, but limit how much you attend to it before or after. Remember, we can choose how we want to feel. We can allow an unwanted situation to stick with us and ruin the rest of the day/week/month/year, or we can choose to accept it, acknowledge it, then work to let it go.
Adulting can be hard, no denying that. But we can choose just how we wish to feel about it.
Finding positivity is not hard, it just requires action. Knowing that you looked forward to being an adult as a child, you get to choose how you feel about the less-desirable aspects of adulthood. When we work to move past the negativity of the things we do not want, we take control of our situation and thus we empower ourselves. When we feel empowered, we often spread that feeling to others around us, and as such can build more positive feelings. We can use the positive feelings this generates to dissolve negative feelings. When we take away negative feelings, we open up space to let in positive feelings, and that is something we can be grateful for. Gratitude leads to happiness. Happiness is the ultimate positive attitude. Positive attitude begets positive energy, and that is always a good thing.
This is the ninety-second entry of my Positivity series. It is my hope these weekly messages might help spread positive energies for everyone. Feel free to share, re-blog and spread the positivity.
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