BrainChocolate

[Video: speaker Nick Vujicic]

Next time you catch yourself complaining, remind yourself of the video above. Instead of trying to convince yourself in vain that “I really don’t have it so bad compared to [whoever],” try something else. As much as you’d rather have an easier time of it, you don’t have that luxury–and be thankful for it.

Not everyone is given the opportunity to grow in a profound, meaningful way and hardly any take advantage of it given the opportunity. I’m not talking about being forced to learning a language in high school or even suffering through a gnarly breakup. I’m talking about long-term, serious, often life-threatening crises that take far more than you can give to get through.

I’m talking about the kind that smacks you in the face with reality, and  hearing your friends gossip about people you don’t even like makes you sick. The kind that makes you not only realize, but actually appreciate that everyone has problems and goes through hard times, but most hide it like their life depended on it.

And the kind that makes you feel ashamed for not getting back up when you were down because you thought you had it so bad—for wasting the opportunity to grow when someone else was more deserving of it.

So don’t waste your efforts trying to motivate yourself by pitying people who you think are worse off—if they’re growing from their hardships and you’re not, you’re more deserving of their pity than they are of yours. Happy people aren’t happy because they have 8 out of 10 stars, they’re happy because they earned the stars despite adversity, no matter how few they can claim as their own.

“As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world as in being able to remake ourselves.” ~Gandhi

Posted by Nathan Schmitt

[Read Time (Total): 5 minutes]

It’s pretty much programed in the human race that we usually don’t fix the things that are bothering us until we’ve been overwhelmed by them. Problem is, by the time it comes, we’ve put up with the stress of the thing for so long that by the time we can’t stand it anymore, it’s usually too late and something bad has happened. The hard part, it often seems, is telling the difference between what needs to be dealt with now and what just isn’t going to cause a problem. This post will help you stay on track without having to re-examine your entire life.

Here are my top five things you can do to stop yourself from being overrun by forces that feel like they’re out of your control. They relate to life in general and might seem random, but they will strengthen your immunity against stress and help prevent you from feeling overwhelmed.