You're Exactly Where You Need To Be

When I walked into work this morning, I heard a co-worker say, “Don’t talk to me. It’s been a hard morning.” I’m a firm believer that everyone has their own issues in their life. Whether your dog threw up on the carpet, your car wouldn’t start, or your kid is sick…we’re allowed to have bad mornings. It’s easy to feel stuck with our lives. Maybe you’re drowning in student loan debt or have extra weight to lose. Maybe you really hate your job or you’re really unhappy with relationships you’re in. Maybe you just feel stuck in your routine and aren’t sure that there is anything to look forward to.

It’s easy to feel like you are wasting time; whether it’s in traffic or cleaning up throw up – if you could just be to work five minutes sooner or at home five minutes faster – I feel like at least for me, I’m often wishing I was somewhere else.

On the anniversary of 9/11, I've frequently seen this picture floating around social media. It’s a light in the horrific tragedy that our nation faced years ago. So many men and women woke up, went to work, and never came home that day. This post pulls us towards a light in the situation as there were a few people who were so lucky to not be at work on time that day.

How often do we say, “I’m so glad I was late to work?” These reasons are simple. They couldn’t catch a taxi. They had a blister from new shoes.

These individuals that lived through a catastrophe - that they were supposed to be present at, were exactly where they were supposed to be.

So what if we start living every single moment of our life thinking this? What if we think, “It’s okay that the dog threw up. I’m supposed to be here right now.” What if we think, “This truck is going SO slow in front of me, but I’m supposed to be here.”

Are we here to avoid a car accident on the highway? Maybe. Or are we here to avoid someone hitting our coffee over at work when we first sat it down? Maybe. Can it be this simple?

I’ve started to think that perhaps positivity isn’t a way we choose to be about certain situations, but it’s so much more about the environment that we cultivate for ourselves.

What is positivity to you? Is it walking into the office saying, “Happy Monday!” or is it finding the bright side in things? Maybe you’re stuck in traffic and you think, “Well, at least that’s five more minutes of my meeting I don’t have to sit through this morning!” Every day we have little choices that guide us towards a more positive day but sometimes it can be hard to realize it.

I read a quote online a few weeks ago that said, “Being positive all the time doesn’t mean you can’t have bad days. It just means that even on the bad ones – you know better days are coming.”

That hit me hard, folks. I’d be lying if I said this past month wasn’t full of long days. Hard days. In the words of Alexander, “it was a terrible, no good, very bad day!” Did I need to smile all day to still be living a positive life? No.

I am recognizing that every day I am exactly where I need to be.

When we cultivate an environment in our life that radiates positivity, we become positive people. We’re not people who are happy all the time – but we sure as heck know better days are on the way.