My 2 Rules for Living a Happy, Stress-Free Life
Rule #1: If something bothers you and you cannot change it, instead learn to accept it. For example if a friend of yours is habitually late and it drives you nuts think about if you can change that friends actions. Chances are that you cannot change the fact that they will always be late. Unless you want to stop being friends with them because of this one small annoyance learn to accept that they will always be late and plan accordingly.
Rule #2: If something bothers you and you can change it, change it, don’t continue to whine about it. Day after day you look at your dining room wall and can’t stand the holes left by the previous owner’s ugly curtain rods go buy some spackle and fix the problem. Letting it bother you day in and day out will only add unneeded stress to your life.
It is not any easy thing to either let things go or get up and do something about the things in life that bother you but it will make you a better person and help to make your life easier and less stressful. The trick is to start with small things in your life. When you are in traffic on your way home from a stressful day at work and you start to get mad because the traffic is backed up and not moving as fast as you would like remember rule number 1. There really is nothing you can do about how fast other people are driving so just try to let it go and accept that this is the way it is going to be until you get into your own driveway. By doing so you commute home will be a lot more enjoyable and will put you on the right path to being able to follow the two rules of life.
These rules are hard to follow when first trying them out but with practice it will start to become second nature and after that it will be what you automatically do in all situations. If you fail to let go of something that is bothering you the first time around it doesn’t mean that next time you can’t try to re-implement the two rules.
