First of all, I want to say that I am sorry about whatever it is that makes life seem completely pointless, or whatever is that makes you feel depressed and lethargic about going on living.

Then I’d like to ask you to look at the bigger picture. Chances are, it’s not the end of the world. Young children live in fear every day of being abducted and forced to kill people who they may have once been friends with. Others are victims of human trafficking. This doesn’t mean you aren’t allowed to be sad or upset about what is going on in your life. Take some time to wallow, and grieve about your problem – especially when you have a more serious situation. Then grow some balls (figuratively) and realize the world doesn’t revolve around you.

If you have access to read this article – and given the fact that you can read it, I guarantee that there are thousands of people in a much worse situation than you. More likely, there are millions.

What am I asking you to take away from this? I don’t want you to feel guilty that you are better off. The world is an unfair place and you have gotten a lucky roll of the dice. Be grateful for that.

I’m not even saying you should try to take the world head on, resting the weight on your shoulders. All I really want is for you to open your eyes and realize that there are bigger things than you. No matter how bad or stressful your day was, there is someone out there who had a much worse day and they are still managing to keep their head and hopes high.

Surely you can quit being an ass to the person serving you your coffee at a slower speed than your high standard for how fast coffee should be served. You should appreciate the fact that you have access to an abundance of drinkable water, let alone the luxury of coffee. Yes, that’s right, that coffee is a luxury, and you’re acting like it’s an inconvenience because the hostess is making you late for work – the job which you probably don’t appreciate as much as you should.

Get over yourself – the world owes you nothing. Be the best person you can be. Make something of yourself. If you’re feeling especially gracious, maybe you should even get involved in making the world a better place.

Photo cred: Steven Fernandez@flickr

The world won’t change overnight. Even if most people changed, there would still be a large number of people who refused to be anything but self-centered and stubborn in their selfish ways.

Imagine if you chose not to throw trash out of your car. Didn’t use the world as your ash tray. Chose to follow the simple laws, even if they don’t make sense to you. If you truly feel that your rights as a human are being violated, then do something that will actually change the situation, instead of breaking the law to get your way. Imagine if you reached out to the people you met every day. Said “hi” to a total stranger. Offered to help someone stuck on the side of the road. The little things add up, even in your own individual life. Imagine how big of an impact there would be if we were all making the small changes.

It’s contagious. If we all just made a conscientious effort to be a little nicer, kinder, and more friendly… wouldn’t the world slowly turn into a better place? We need to set the example. Pointing fingers, placing blame, and complaining about how horrible our lives are won’t change anything. In fact, all it’s doing is delaying the solution.

Be the change you want to see. Do it for your health and mine: happy people are healthier.

Photo cred: Timothy Lloyd@flickr

Because, by choosing to do nothing about it, you are choosing to let life be boring. When you decide not to ever take risks, you are deciding that life will be the same day in an day out. How boring is that?

I believe that you can live an interesting, fulfilling life while generally maintaining safety and stability. “What good is gaining the whole world if you lose your soul?” We don’t want to sacrifice too much in order to lead an exciting life. However, using common sense, you can take reasonable risks to go out on a limb and try something new.

You hate your job? Quit, get a new one, start your own.

You are jealous that all your friends go on vacations, but you never do? Work a part time job for a short time, walk some dogs, do some house sitting, and save. Take a few days off and take a vacation. It’s worth it! Excuses are a crutch, I don’t care what they are. Work past them.

You never do anything exciting? Try something out of your comfort zone. From taking a run on the beach, to sky diving, there is always something you haven’t tried yet. Take a surfing class, hike a big mountain, take an unplanned weekend road-trip. Go back to school and take an interesting class.

You don’t do anything all day but sit around? Get out of the house! Make it your goal to have at least one interesting thing to do every day for the next week. Be creative. There are lots of outings (both expensive and inexpensive) to try. Get off the couch.

The biggest thing is to find goals, or a hobby, or something that will intellectually stimulate your brain for growth. If you’re not growing and learning things every day, it’s no wonder you’re bored with life.

Photo cred: Foxtongue@flickr

I encourage you to give it a listen and take it to heart.

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There’s a cross on the side of the road
Where a mother lost her son
How could she know that the morning he left
Would be the last time she’d trade with him for a little more time
(so she could say she loved him one last time)
And hold him tight
But with life we never know when we’re coming up to the end of the road
So what do we do then
With tragedy around the bend

We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
‘Cause the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love
We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
‘Cause the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love

There’s a man who waits for the tests to
See if the cancer had spread yet
And now he asks why did I wait to live ’til it was time to die
If I could have the time back, how I’d live
Life is such a gift
So how does the story end?
Well, this is your story and it all depends
So don’t let it become true
Get out and do what we were meant to do

We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
‘Cause the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love
We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
‘Cause the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love

Waking up to another dark morning
People are mourning
The weather in life outside is storming
But what would it take for the clouds to break
For us to realize each day
Is a gift somehow, someway
And get our heads up out of this darkness
And spark this new mindset and start on with life ’cause it ain’t gone yet
And tragedy’s a reminder to take off the blinders and wake up
(to live the life)
We’re supposed to take up
(moving forward)
With all our heads up
‘Cause life is worth living

We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
‘Cause the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love
We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
‘Cause the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love

Photo cred: kalandrakas@flickr

Curiosity fuels our desire for knowledge. We learn because we want to know, we want answers to our questions. If you aren’t ever asking questions, if you never care to investigate a situation further, then perhaps you should try to develop some curiosity. After all, life is pretty boring when nothing arouses your interest.

Do you think that curiosity is important?

Everything does need moderation. In your quest to be curious… remember that sometimes it’s just not worth knowing. Don’t be stupid about being curious, but try to be more curious today than you were yesterday. The feat of learning something that was gnawing at you is like relief from a severe itch, not very many things compare to the satisfying feeling. Plus, you’ll be smarter for the experience.

Photo cred: fazen@flickr

Don’t objectify the girl behind the counter making your sandwich as just a sandwich maker. She has a life, relationships, hopes, hobbies and dreams. Treat her as such. She may be having a rough day. Say “please” and “thank you”. Not because you have to, but because that is how we talk to people we respect as human beings.

That’s just a simple picture of how you can treat a stranger nicely. You can hold the door open for the person walking in behind you. You can smile and make eye contact with the various people you come in contact with. If you’re feeling bold, say “hi” to the person who is sitting next to you in the waiting room. Who knows? That could be your next best friend, or your future spouse. Or it could just be one more life you brightened a day in.

Don’t limit yourself in treating people like people because you are rushed, or too busy. If all you do is smile at someone you interact with today, if only in passing, you have not exerted extra energy or wasted a single moment. In fact, you have only enriched the time that you did have.

Who have you smiled at today?

Photo cred: felix kirsch@flickr

**UPDATE** I ran across a great article that related to this topic – No More With Me. It’s a great read.

I think that we are making equal opportunity and fairness something it was never meant to be. Yes, we should all get a chance. However, those who put in the effort and the ones who perform the best for the job should get it. We use equal opportunity as a crutch, we know that we’re wasting our time and effort because that’s not what we’re being judged on.

This, in turn, has taught us that being intuitive and inventive does not reap benefits. This, in turn, has taught our generation today to be lazy. The only time we use our creativity is to get out of needing to use it in another situation. Kids these days put more work into making a paper for school look like it’s the correct length using tricks in Microsoft Word than they would have if they had just written the damn paper.

Being creative about solving your problems is invaluable. Aren’t going to make the rent this month? Do you just let it happen or do you seek out creative (and legal!) ways of making an extra buck, like washing your neighbor’s car. You’ll be surprised how sympathetic someone might be to your situation if you’re willing to earn the cash instead of just borrowing it.

There are numerous ways of getting creative, from deciding to start a business to making the process you use to clean your dishes more efficient.

Leave your creative ideas in the comments. What is a problem you solved using a non-conventional method?

Photo cred: muppetcakes@flickr

The idea is this: by being a better person, you will be happier.

Makes sense, right? Maybe we feel useless and like our lives are pointless because, well, they are. All we do is focus on self day in and day out. Maybe that’s why married people live longer: they have someone they are constantly caring for.

Serving others sounds so official, but really we’re talking about the little things. Let the lady who only has 2 items (vs your whole week’s worth) at the grocery store go first. Offer to help that guy who just dropped his briefcase and all his papers went everywhere. It will take you 5 extra minutes, and that act of kindness will completely change their day for the better.

We live in such a self-absorbed world that we don’t even say hi to the stranger waiting next to us for the bus. We are surrounded by more people than ever, yet I have noticed that so many people I know complain of a lack of friends.