A few weeks ago, I posted a quote on my Facebook page that I have lived by for a long time, when I start receiving messages and comments about how eye opening it was, I realized maybe others have not thought of it that way. The quote is “When you replace why is this happening to me with why is this happening for me, everything shifts.”
I truly believe that if you live by that quote your entire life shifts for the better and you have a completely different outlook on life. We all know that life is not easy all the time. And to be honest it shouldn’t be, challenges is what helps us think, grow, and become who we are supposed to become. There are great things that happen to us, there are bad things, there are happy things and there are sad things, all of which are part of this beautiful thing we call life. But what matters in all these situations is your mindset, how do you overcome the bad and sad times and how do you celebrate the happy and great times?
As humans we tend to look at the negative of situations first and then maybe we can pull ourselves out of that and start thinking of some positive things that could come out of whatever situations we are in. But what if we skip that first reaction of looking at the negative and we start by asking the simple questions “Why is this happening FOR me?” Think about how that simple questions changes everything. I often find myself saying “everything happens for a reason” but I am not sure that is true because there are somethings I don’t believe should ever happen, but I do believe there is a lesson in everything that happens and by asking myself “why is this happening for me” I can find those lessons a lot faster and with a lot less pain.
Try it this week with small things. The next time you are driving and there is traffic, your boss says something to that upsets you, your kids get in trouble at school, or you drop something and break it. Let your first thought be “Why is this happening for me?” Think about how that simple question change your perspective on the situation.
This practice is easier when you start small like the examples above, but it really starts shifting your mindset and life when you apply it to the big things the things, the things that create big changes in your life… Loss of a Job, an illness, loss of a person, tragic event, accident, etc.
Let me know if you try this practice and how it went. Over time it will become easier and easier for this to be your first thought and not the destructive, negative ones.