Right here, right now. Without anything out there having to change at all. Just because your feelings are yours.This may sound fantastic. Many of us believe we can only feel good when everything is right: when we’re “rich enough”, “important enough”, “successful enough”, or whatever, but that moment may never come. And all along the way we’re less happy than we could be. Some career, some life.
The mindset may look like this: “If I DO enough then one day I will HAVE enough and then I will BE enough”: from ‘doing’ thru ‘having’ to ‘being’. Many of us have become expert at postponing good feelings, except for those that surprise us. This is strange.
What if we start with being? Let’s try something simple: as easy as noticing what you’re feeling right now. That’s it, will you do it? This might take a moment if you’re used to spending most of your time in thought. But as you switch into feeling mode, what’s the best feeling you could have right now? If you’re able to make a shift, even a little one, then you just felt better for no external reason at all. Congratulations! You’re now in charge.
Does this make difference? As well as the intrinsic benefit of feeling good, how you’re feeling affects the quality of everything you do. Feel good and it’s likely your colleagues will feel good too. It turns out that wherever you go, you take your feelings with you.
The good news is you can shift the way you feel, even a little, in a moment. If this feels hard, it may be, but with practice it can get easier. Just like learning to ride a bicycle, balance comes with time. So there’s no need to wait for others to “make you feel” good. They’re entitled to feel the way they feel. And so are you. For your part you can be someone who influences the way others feel, and in doing so you’ll brighten up the world.
