I was feeling a little sad the other day as I sat in Starbucks, plucking away at my keyboard. Usually, I’m hopped up on a bunch of espresso-fueled hyperactivity and sipping away like a well-mannered chimpanzee. However, today I was doing something else--reflecting and thinking about my life -- but not about how to appreciate it.I was probably feeling blue because I was under the weather. As someone who rarely gets sick I wasn’t used to feeling this down. I began thinking about things that had gone wrong, about lessons I’d learned, and I was even getting agitated that I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do that evening for dinner--rough life, right?But somewhere in the middle of all that, I made a conscious decision.It was a choice to go do something, and get out of my misery. This single decision changed the course of my evening. I decided to go get a slice of pizza and a wonderful garlic avocado salad.When I got up to leave, with my new firm decision in hand, I thought of a friend who I wanted to see. As it turned out, she was looking for something to do and decided to meet up with me after dinner.

The Problem

One of the easiest things that we can do in life is to blame our surroundings for our emotions. Our emotions dictate how we feel, and even how we respond to situations, but are they really that powerful? Even more powerful than our emotional state is our ability to form meaningful connections. A connection involves someone else. When our personal emotions carry us away on a pity-party or guilt trip, sharing a smile with a stranger (forming a connection) can overpower our own sadness.At the coffee shop I was thinking too much. I was focusing on my numbers for the month, on how I wasn’t measuring up, and I was pitying myself. Deciding to move on snapped me out of it, and helped me to gain a different perspective.Perspective is always more important than accomplishments. Remember, achievement is the result of proper perspective, coupled with positive actions.Accomplishments are everything in our society, but our feelings about ourselves are even more important.It’s great that you won an award at work, but is that really what was important after all? More likely, it was the fact that you achieved something that made you feel better about yourself. And when you feel better about who you are, naturally things improve.We are all at different stages in our lives. Some of us have just hit our success milestones for the year, for our lives, or for the month. While others are struggling to pay the bills, or wishing that they had made different choices. What unites us is the fact that we are all trying to get somewhere, trying to find someone to be with, or looking for better options.We all want to improve--to become better versions of ourselves, and to leave humanity positively impacted when we leave Earth for good. When we think about our lives, it can feel like there’s so much to do and not enough time to do it all.I was feeling a little melancholy as I sat typing and searching, looking for answers to questions I didn’t want to face.But little by little, you can get just about anywhere. It is only when we try to do it all in an afternoon that we can’t help but fall short. This is what I was feeling.

What I Learned From this Experience

Time is a fickle companion, that much I know for sure. But we can use time, travel, money, and friendship to create a life that is whole and meaningful.Don’t forget to feel the pain, experience the pressure, and move on.When we experience negative emotion it has the potential to be a positive instead of a negative. Think of a negative feeling place sort of like bumper rails in bowling. It exists so that you can get to your destination more easily. Usually, there’s something underneath the pain that you are experiencing. Therefore, you have to find it, and then act to change it.For more on how to reprogram your mind check out a similar post on our blog.

Where is this useful?

Being resilient is essential for any pursuit in life. Whether it’s learning a language (and dealing with being corrected by native speakers), losing a job, or being disappointed by a broken heart--learning how to to grow from these experiences is essential for your inner growth.At Rype, we also talk a lot about travelling. Being alone in a new place can be a bit scary, and it can be a very bad time to be lonely. When you can’t speak the local language, or when you don’t have many friends you can feel isolated, lonely, and even depressed. It’s important to remember that you can always reach out to friends, family, and seek professional attention when necessary.Lastly, as entrepreneurs, or just people who are interested in bettering themselves we can be very hard on ourselves. We need to make things easier, to take ourselves a little less seriously, and to reach for the stars. It’s okay to make mistakes, and to learn, and to grow. It’s important that we be free mentally, emotionally, and spiritually--absolutely free.Anywhere you are, take the time to learn how to appreciate and make the most of your journey today. Find the benefits and focus on the next move. Do that and you will be well on your way towards finding what you are searching for.