Life is funny. One minute you’re an awkward teenager and the next you’re hitting the mid-century mark. There are many years between those two moments yet they seem so close together. While time is flying by, the changes and growth you experience over those years is tremendous.
When I was in my 20’s, I thought people in their 50’s seemed really old. As I approach my “half-way point”, not only do I believe that the 50’s are the new 30’s, I believe that the next 10 years will be the best I’ve ever experienced. We may not have smooth, unwrinkled skin like we did in our 20’s and 30’s, but we become powerful and wise. We learn to appreciate everything in our lives because, so often, we’ve seen loved ones ripped away from our friends and family prematurely.
When looking back at the first half of your life, whether you’re 30 years old or 70, do you want to continue on the same path you’ve been following or do you want to travel down a road that’s new to you? Will you feel good about yourself and the way you’ve lived your life when it’s your time to leave this earth?
Ask yourself the following questions:
- Do I support my friends and family or do I sometimes secretly wish they’d fail?
- Are there people in my life who bring out feelings of jealousy or hatred?
- Do I love myself?
I ask you these three questions because they are vitally important to your happiness. If you secretly feel jealousy or wish for a friend or loved one to fail, this is a very unhealthy situation for YOU! Any time you have bad feelings towards someone else, all is does it harm you. If you send love to these people, then love and goodness is what you’ll get in return.
Two years ago, I felt hatred and anger towards a neighbor. She used her political power to force us tear down a beautiful brick wall on our house. I was so angry that just the sight of her made my blood boil. It changed me. It caused me to pick fights with my husband and I felt as if toxic venom was running through my veins. I had never experienced feelings of hatred like that before.
One day I decided that she had stolen enough of my energy. But the reality was this: she didn’t steal my energy. I made a choice to be angry and let the situation turn me into someone I didn’t like. So I turned all my anger into good thoughts about this person. I wished her happiness every single day even though, at first, it wasn’t easy. About a week later, I felt all of my anger melt away. I haven’t felt even a twinge of anger or resentment since that day.
So, the last question is whether or not you love yourself. You may not even know the answer to this. If you’re not sending love to others on a consistent basis, it’s impossible to love yourself the way you can and should.
If you’re feeling any toxic or unhealthy thoughts, it’s time to let them go. Change the way you think…send lots of love…you’ll receive it back tenfold. It’s really that simple.
Send Love,
Molly
I really needed this reminder right now Molly. Those are hard questions to answer – to answer sincerely. I’m going to do go do my homework and think about who I need to send some love out to!
I’m so glad this “reminder” came to you when you needed it. Send out love…there’s nothing bad that can happen from that. 🙂
Molly,
This is so true. We are all people dealing with daily obstacles and let downs. Nothing in life can be consistently positive unless we bring that sort of an attitude to the table. I often feel sorry for people that are angry and unpleasant because they push loved ones away. I really enjoyed this post.
xoxo
Biana
Thanks Biana. We all have choices in life. I’m always amazed when people choose to be mean over being nice. It happens every day…and certain people get away with it…at least for a while. It eventually catches up to them. So why not be nice every day? It’s not that hard… 🙂
Love this! Age is just a number. Happiness is not hard to come by…wherever you are in your life, you can make the choice to live free (rid yourself of toxic people & situations) OR choose to succumb to drama. We all have to deal with constant obstacles; however it is those who choose to face them head on, rise above and allow karma to be our guide…these are the character tenets that I choose to live by and I am hopeful that I will have a far greater full life than those that choose the other path.
This is so true. Thanks for your great comment Stacey and keep sharing your love! 🙂
It has been a hard week, both my teenage girls have had disapointments and bad experiences with teachers, coaches and ‘friends’. It is hard not to be the ‘Mama Bear’ and lash out to protect them; hard not to make angry remarks about the people and situations that are causing my girls pain. But, what you say is true Molly… when I pull back, when I reflect and pray for the person I am angry at – it empowers me. My forgiving energy heals the anger. I am trying to teach my girls how to do the same thing. I want them to be happy for other peoples good fortune and to send good energy to the negative person who tries to hurt them. Not to add negative onto negative. Here is a quote that I am stealing from my 6th grader… ‘why are some people so mean when it is so much easier to be nice?’
Rebecca: I am so sorry your girls are having to deal with “mean” people…but as you know, there will always be mean people. But, I believe there are SO MANY MORE good people who are kind, caring and compassionate. I am saddened when people talk about how many mean people there are today…unlike many others, I think mean people are the minority. You’re a great role model for your girls…keep pumping them with positivity. Learning how to treat others with respect at a young age is an integral part of becoming a compassionate, loving adult. Sending lots of love to you all…