A Lesson Learned

One of the blogs I enjoy reading on a regular basis is The Simple Dollar. While it’s a personal finance blog, the author also writes some great “life lesson” posts.


A post today reminded me of an important lesson I learned myself in the past couple of years. In his post, the author writes about how being negative comes at a great cost. I couldn’t agree more.

We are always going to come into contact with negative people in life, or people who behave in ways that don’t meet our approval. That’s a given. However, while you cannot control their behavior, you can control how you react to it.

That is a simple idea, yet it’s one that changed my life for the better. I used to let negative people drag me down. When I would see someone bending the rules, it would upset me. I would vent. I was not a nice person to be around.

I wish I could tell you the moment I discovered that great life lesson, but I cannot. There was no a-ha, Oprah type moment with bright lights and music. It just simply dawned on me that people are going to behave in ways that either don’t meet my standards or are just plain bad. But that doesn’t mean I have to let it get to me.

Because I cannot control their behavior. I can only control my own. I remind myself that whenever someone does something that upsets me. I have a choice. I can get upset and vent or I can let it go and get on with my day. I have been a much happier and healthier person since coming to this realization.

I have a good life. I am blessed with a wonderful family, friends, and a career that allows me to take care of myself. There’s a roof over my head (and I bought it all by myself) and food on my table. I have two furballs who bring me joy with their silly antics. There is so much pain, hunger and suffering in this world. I have no reason not to be happy. I choose happiness.