This is Day 91 of the Positive 100, a countdown to Rare Disease Day 2014 and an exercise in being positive despite it all.
What’s responsibility got to do with positivity? Absolutely everything.
Life is hard. Really hard. Really, really hard. We get older. Our bodies don’t work right. We have to work to live. We have schedules. Double booked girls nights. Winter weather commutes that triple in length. Bills due the day before payday.
It’s pretty easy to let those things control you. Saying that the universe is against you absolves you of the responsibility you have to yourself and your mental state. When you take responsibilty for the things in your life under your control, you have made a major leap towards positivity. When you take responsibility for your emotions and how you respond when the universe conspires to push you around, you have made it to the state of mind I strive to have. You have embraced positivity because you control your dark days. You have taken the time to be sad, frustrated, angry. You have felt the pain but you aren’t dwelling there because you know that your outlook is under your control.
This adorable black kitten is now a 22-pound sweetheart who thinks you were put on this planet to love him. And yes, Mr. Tiernan O’Cat (that’s Irish for Little Lord) is relevant.
This little rascal showed up in my life one summer afternoon when I was feeling pretty down and out. I was living three hours away from my family, friends and boyfriend. I lived alone and had no car. I barely made enough money to live on. I was in Chicago at least every other week for CRPS treatments of one kind or another. My job was rocky on the best of days.
I was flip flopping between wallowing and faking the most ludicrous optimistic attitude ever. I would come home from work, make dinner in a rice cooker and turn into a vegetable.
The universe hated me and I couldn’t see through it. I couldn’t see a way to be positive. And then this little guy came into my life when he was rescued from under my boss’s car. Mr. O’Cat was the first domino that led me to where I am now. This job. This project. This outlook.
I rescued him from the brutal outdoors. He got food and shelter. Medicine. And a few baths… It was as I started fixing his life that I started seeing that I could fix mine. I wasn’t destined to be miserable and it was my responsibility to chase the clouds away.
When did you take responsibility for your happiness? Share your answer on social media with the hashtag #100positivedays on Twitter, Instagram and Google+.