...What are we doing today to improve our life that we didn't do yesterday or the day before or even a year ago,?...

      I asked myself that during my lunch break yesterday. 

      It was hot sitting outside, yet I found a sense of peace sitting beneath the trees, watching the leaves flutter and branches move to a few slight breezes.

      I wake today asking myself the same question.

      Sometimes it's easy to let things get to you and then there's days things really sink in and it sinks you. But, it's all about refocusing and reminding yourself of who you are and how far you've come in life.

      We all want happiness and i think sometimes we're so determined to grasp it that we're chasing it instead of just living in the present and realizing happiness is in front of you and all you have to do is appreciate life in the moment.

      Of course bad things happen, people get to us, we're human, we feel and there's nothing wrong in that, but i think we have to make it a priority for our own well being to find the positive out of everything, even the bad.

      Happiness isn't about having it all. Happiness is what fills your heart with joy. Being in your peace is happiness. Appreciating being alive and breathing is a form of happiness. And to say I'm always happy, no, I'd be a hypocrite to say I was 100 every day. Some days like every human being can be shit, but it's about letting yourself have that day of going through your emotions and rechecking yourself the next day.

     I think we lose happiness and spiral in depression when we're too focused on what our lives should be and how people around us should be. Indeed people should be kind, thoughtful, loving, all the positive, but fact is that not everyone is.

      There's people in our lives that can drain us because of their negativity and greed and we hold onto them because we care and love them and are hoping that they'll change and even put it on ourselves that if we're there for them and love them enough that it'll be enough for them to get their shit together. Truth is, people can be loved as much as possible, but it's not gonna save anyone who doesn't wanna love or save themselves.

      Sometimes it's about loving and caring from a distance and putting up a road block and not letting the bullshit in. Sometimes it's having to be harsh, not mean, but stern and saying, "Hey, I love you, care for you, but I've done all I could and for my own well being, I'm cutting contact for now. Give me a call when you get your shit together". 

It's not being heartless or selfish because sometimes people think you're always going to be around and they depend on that and it gives them that comfort of continuing the same cycle.

Although I'm not one to abandon, I think it's good to keep out of sight from people, watch to make sure they're ok, but not get involved.

      That's been the toughest for me. And indeed it's easier said than done. But none of us can save or change a person, only they can. Just as it is for us, we can only save ourselves because we want to.

      I do think people can inspire us to change  and motivate us into change and saving ourselves, but when it comes down to it, it's on us and no one else.

      And of course, people can hurt us, bring us down, etc., but we have to take responsibility for ourselves and not letting others get to us or making us feel less than who we are and what we're capable of.

      To touch on another note, things in life can get to us, not just people. Bad things happen, things don't go as we've planned and it can affect us. It's normal, it's life. But I think when we're stuck in "why" is this happening or happened, we create darkness for ourselves and even spiral into depression. 

      Of course depression can be a medical or mental issue, but a lot of times we can create that for ourselves because like I said, we're so focused on how life should be instead of how we can live in the present. We can get lost in why someone else has it better or achieved more and feel like we've failed in some sense, but that's far from true. Not everyone is meant to be at the same point in life and just because someone else seems to be doing great, doesn't mean they are.

      I heard recently someone say, "Why does this person seem to have things come so easily for them? They have a better job, friends and here I am struggling."

That's the thing, we as humans can get lost in how others are living and fail to live in our own life. That's what steals your life, living in the comparison of others instead of appreciating your life and what you've accomplished in your life. You lose your happiness that way.

      It's not about what obtain in life, but about how well you live for yourself and living your truth. 

      Let me ask you, by having what others have, how is that going to make you happy? How is what others have and are doing benefitting you?

      Define happiness?...

      Only you can do that....

      We must live in our own lives and not in the eyes of others. 

A flower does not grow because of another flower, and although it may share the same soil, it must grow on its own. 

      We must take responsibility for ourselves and our own life and focus on the positive. We must create the world we wish to see.

      That's why I brought up the question, What are we doing today to improve our life that we didn't do yesterday?

      We all want to be happy, to love and be loved. So what are you doing today to bring that into your life?

      Today I refuse to let other people's negativity get to me. Today I will focus on the positive. How other people act and feel is on them and their perception of me does not define who I am or take away from who I am. 

Today I will find appreciation in life itself and make the best out of the present. I will not look at yesterday as the past is the past and is unchangeable, and I will not look to tomorrow as that is the future and the future hasn't come to be yet. I refuse to let the negative win and no matter what the day brings, I will take it on with a positive mindset. And if bad comes along, I won't ask "why", I will only say, "I got this".

      Happiness is a sense of being, you cannot chase it, it must be embraced in appreciation. If that makes sense.

      I hope whoever reads this smiles today.