Open Your Eyes: Everywhere you go, there you are

By Savannah McDade Posted April 20, 2011

When I was younger, I would sometimes throw tantrums over unsatisfactory occurrences, and rather than pacifying my temper, my family would coin the phrase, “You can get glad in the same pants you got mad in.”

At the time, that statement seemed silly and made absolutely no sense to me, it would only infuriate me more because no one would cater to my attitude. However, in this I learned a very important lesson: You are responsible for your happiness.

It is natural to ease our consciences by blaming our poor dispositions on someone else, the weather, hormones, or even heredity!

Our civilization has coddled our citizens by diagnosing the slightest discomfort as a “chemical imbalance” and prescribing a quick fix in order to make everyone happy all of the time. The fact is that things happen that we, as thinking individuals with feelings, do not always agree with. It is easy to blame our disparities on other people and situations.

We need to come to terms with the fact that we cannot change the way other people think, and often, we do not have control over the situations in which we are placed. If you do not have the power to control your own happiness, how can you expect to hold authority over others’ feelings and the inevitable?

If everyone dwelled on misfortunes and the opinions of others, then our nation would have never progressed on matters such as racial oppression. Rather than dwelling, which can only be a detriment, change the way you think. Dr. Maya Angelou best sums up the entire thesis with one phrase: “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.” (www.quotationspage.com)

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