Emilie Miranda | Executive Editor, Online
Featured image | Rowan Campbell
Whether you watch the news or not, you’re probably aware that the world seems like a pretty terrible place. From natural disasters wreaking havoc around the world, to countless lives lost in political upheavals, or the controversy and fallout from whatever the celebrity president is up to these days, you would think we need all the positivity we can muster in our day-to-day lives.
Of course, that’s not what happens. Instead, we find ourselves exasperated by the long lines for much-needed coffee, suspicious of the person who didn’t give us the correct change, and angered by the driver who cut us off. These don’t even include school-related stresses like assignments, professors you’re not a fan of, or the classmate that chews their gum way too loudly behind you.
That’s not to say you’re not allowed to complain—it’s not healthy to internalize what’s bothering you, and voicing your problems might even help solve them (at least in the case of the gum-chewing classmate).
What I am saying is that sometimes, it’s also good to change our point of view and give others the benefit of the doubt. Not everyone is out to get you.
You can see a long line as an inconvenience, or as an opportunity to use that spare moment to read that article you didn’t have time for before, or to take a breath and listen to music.
The person who didn’t give you the right change probably didn’t do so to be malicious; it could be the end of a long shift and they made an honest mistake.
It doesn’t do either party any good to yell at the driver who not only probably didn’t see you, but also didn’t mean to cut you off; all it does is put you in a bad mood and distract you.
There’s also only a slight chance that any change will be made regarding your assignment and professor, so it probably won’t help you to obsess over what you can’t affect. Instead, you can see it as an exercise in patience and adaptability. It’s not exactly the most fun thing in the world, but it will be more productive than moping.
Changing your perspective isn’t easy—if it was, everyone would do it and we’d all be happier. Like any habit, it takes practice and persistence, and you really have to want to succeed. But it’s time for us to create some positivity ourselves, because it probably won’t come from the world around us.