Be Good At Life

My daughter, the epitome of passion.  

I was at a bar about a month ago having a conversation with someone and a guy came up and started talking to us.  He said "Brittany is just really good at life."  I had never heard someone say that before, and no one had ever said that to me.  That's a pretty incredible compliment and honestly, I was a little taken aback and I don't think I even got so far as to ask what he meant by it.  The reason I was taken aback is because sometimes I get upset that I didn't get something done, I forgot something at the grocery store, I was late, I got a speeding ticket, my car is dirty....I could go on and on about why I feel I suck at life sometimes. What does it really mean though?

Someone I love very much is sick right now and even though I truly try to appreciate the moments I have been given normally, that appreciation has been kicked into high gear in the past few weeks.  There are certain ways I want to live my life, things I want to pass on to other people, and a way I want to be remembered when I am gone.  What makes someone good at life?  I think it looks like this....

1. Get out of your comfort zone. Don't let fear dictate you. Try new things.   If you aren't doing something simply because you are scared, then that's probably the thing that would change you the most and the thing that is most important for you to do. I think back to all of the things I thought I couldn't do, or the times I hesitated, or the times I was scared, and it was in those moments that I truly grew as a person.  Once you push yourself and tell yourself that mediocrity is not okay, you just take off.  
2. Dream, then work hard.  Get organized, prioritize, concentrate, have goals and stick to them.  Nothing worth anything comes easily (as cliché as that sounds.)
3. Love fiercely. Don't just love the people who love you back, love the people who are hard to love.  Love the people who you are afraid to love.  Love those who shake you up and require more of you.  Tough love is sometimes necessary, so is unconditional love, and sometimes it's the love that is the biggest pain in the ass that requires you to pull from the bottom of your heart that is the most rewarding and important.  Don't be lukewarm with your heart.  
4. Be graceful. Be grateful. Be polite, be kind, be controlled but don't control others, smile, have an ease about yourself, find peace, find your faith.  Smile.  Laugh. You aren't guaranteed anything.  When things are good, live it up.  When things are lousy, look for the lessons and grow from it.  
5. Decide who you want to be when you die and live it. In theory, I want to be remembered as a happy person who tried to make other people's lives better because it isn't always about me.  I want to contribute and help others.  I know that I have to work and make money and buy groceries and pay bills and make to-do lists, but the labels on my tombstone are always what anchor me from beating myself up at the end of a bad day and they are the words that keep me a real person.  Mother, sister, daughter, friend.....these are the things that really matter over everything else. 
6. Treat others how you want to be treated. The Golden Rule seriously is the simplest way to keep yourself in check.  Not everyone will take the time to consider another's feelings, but I certainly don't want to be that person.  
7. Let go. Let go of what you can't control, forgive others, forgive yourself, keep it moving. 
8. Pay attention to the people who are always there. We are living in an era that is producing loneliness.  Don't get wrapped up in likes on Facebook, but instead, pay attention to the people who are doing exactly what you need when you are down in the gutter. 
9. Think happy thoughts. It is absolutely true that positive thoughts help you get through life.  When you get bogged down with the pain and crap in life, you dwell there and it's really hard to get out. Every time you think something negative, consciously tell yourself something positive. 
10. Be passionate. Use your gifts. One of the best things my parents taught me is to follow my heart and do what I was passionate about, not what might make me rich.  They weren't accepting of me squandering my talents because of laziness or fear.  They told me that it is your responsibility to use your potential and based on the way I always push myself, I can tell them today that what they told me worked.  
11. Give back. What is the point of having anything if you can't pass it on?  Hoarding is boring and it sucks and no one who does it is happy.  Hoard your heart, your trust, your talents, your money....I have a strong belief that you will never be happy living for yourself.  Happy people give. 
12. Be real. Life is too short to be full of shit.  
13. Commit to the right things.  If everything were easy, we would be bored.  Commit to the things you decide are important and the people you love.  

Here's a little Kodaline......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxtxlpgPOC8