Change your thoughts, change your life!

I wanted to share an outlook that I have adopted that truly helps my peace level on a daily basis. I have shared this before and received some pushback. And that’s ok because not everything I share is going to be for everyone. If it resonates with you then great! If it doesn’t then data dump it and move on!

Here it is: the curation of TRULY believing (and giving the benefit of the doubt) that everyone is doing their very best on any given day.

When I lean into that, very little feels personal which allows me to witness other people’s “stuff” without any need to react to it. I have heard the argument that this is naïve and perhaps it is. My counter is that if the belief that everyone is doing their best allows me to have more peace, then I can operate from a more peaceful place, which allows me to be much more effective. I am not perfect at operating from this place (at all) and it is the hardest to implement with people closest to me. But I intentionally practice its curation daily.

Here are some “thought switches” to illustrate what I’m talking about.

Instead of thinking: “He didn’t do the dishes again. He’s so lazy!” How about: “He didn’t do the dishes again. He must be feeling really overwhelmed and tired today.”

Instead of thinking: “I can’t believe that woman said that to me. That was completely insensitive and naive of her. She should know how that would make me feel." How about: “I can’t believe that woman said that to me. She must have been really flustered and preoccupied, otherwise she would’ve been able to phrase her comment in a more sensitive way.”

Instead of thinking “I made such a stupid mistake. I’m such an idiot.” What about “I’m feeling really stressed today and did the best that I could. It was courageous of me to try.”

What daily thoughts help you the most?