Where did the idea of being beside yourself come from? You know like, she was so excited she was beside herself? Because if you think about it, that’s just a funny visual.
I imagine your normal, semi-bored self just standing there, while your insanely excited twin is next to you and convulsing with joy.
I think about one twin filing her nails and the other twitching like she’s got electrodes attached to her, and the point is this:
You have a choice about whether to choose awesome or dull. You can choose happiness and excitement and saying yes.
Because when you make excitement a priority, your day starts with sunrises, not snooze buttons.
See, when you choose happiness, when you choose excitement, you know exactly what you want and what’s going to make you happy. You know what you’re willing to work for. You strip away other people’s priorities and say yes to your own. You know you’ll always feel the bright morning sunshine start to warm you and the gravel crunch beneath your feet as you climb toward your goals. You know that you’ll feel more happiness than you did before, because you’ve made it part of the fabric of your life.
Too many people forget to choose their own excitement, and slowly their excited twin gets shoved away, only to be brought out for very special occasions like some creepy doll.
Soon they realize something is wrong. They see that most of what they’re doing every day is not what they want to be doing and is stuff if – given a choice – they’d say no to. They live for the weekends, hang on for vacations and dream of winning the lottery.
It’s all about escape.
But most people do nothing about it. (This doesn’t have to be you.)
How To Choose Happiness
My best friend just bought a beach house. It’s not exactly her dream house.
I think I heard the words “deathtrap” and “money pit” escape her husband’s mouth.
But it’s near the beach, and it’s what she always dreamed of since she was a little kid. She was absolutely beside herself. Yes, she’s probably afraid of what it means to have to fix it up and how much it’s going to cost, but she’s where she always wanted to be. She took the leap.
She sent me this picture of her view randomly one moment when she was pinching herself.
So of course, being the smart ass I am, I had to send her back a picture of my view at that moment. . .
Not exactly impressive. 🙂
And my husband texted his view too. (That’s why we get along. He’s also a smart ass.)
LOL, right?
Seriously, though the point is this:
Do things that put you beside yourself with excitement even if they scare you. Take that first step even if you don’t know where it is leading. As scary as it is, allow yourself to be lead by excitement even just a little bit more than you are right now.
Because I know this about you: you care about excitement and you’re creative. You’ll figure out what to do along the way. You don’t have to have your life all planned out.
Figuring stuff all out beforehand doesn’t work anyway because everything changes as you go. You have to be scrappy. You have to take risks. You have to be creative and thrive on excitement and joy.
Because winning at life isn’t about collecting all the gold.
It’s about having the golden moments you’ll remember.