As a subscriber to the inspirational website TinyBuddha.com, I receive daily posts designed to guide and motivate our lives in a positive direction.
Today’s post was crafted by Ed Herzog, a board certified life coach, providing readers with ways to cope through a miserable job.
After reading his well-written and though provoking piece, I found much of his advice was extremely relevant to coping through life in general, not just a miserable job. In particular the following passage caught my attention:
Misery is created when we create and cling to stories such as “I can’t stand this,” “This is awful,” or “I should be doing something else with my life.”
If you want to feel less miserable in your current situation, then change your stories to something neutral or even positive.
For example, you could tell yourself “This isn’t really that bad” or “I will continue working toward a meaningful career. What I’m doing right now is only temporary.”
Everyday we create stories, which oftentimes are an exaggeration of the reality we’re living. Sometimes when we “cling to stories” it’s nothing more than a means to continue to propagate our perspective. We utilize them as a defense mechanism in order to avoid accepting the way things are.
What we often fail to realize is that clinging to stories brimming with negative implications continues our languishing in a state of self-pity.
It amplifies a challenging situation – creating more stress than is necessary – while preventing us from clearly seeing all the blessings we already have.
While some situations in life come with their own unexpected misery, many times we do a good job of creating our own. And while adjusting to changes or situations that are less than desirable can be cause for displeasure, it’s important to remember, “right now is only temporary”.
So learn to retell your stories as a means to cope through the ever-changing roller coaster of life. You’ll be better off for the effort.
