Do you feel that life is against you? Are you constantly struggling and see everything as a challenge?
Have you ever considered that this might be coming from you and not from the world around you?
Depending on how you think and act life can be perceived as difficult. A shift in your attitude and perception can make a huge difference in creating an easier life.
Are these 10 traits making your life difficult?
You believe that everyone is out to get you.
Someone in your office does something nice for you and automatically you begin to wonder what they want. On a greater scale you distrust anyone who works for a large organization like the government, insurance company, lawyers, doctors, or even teachers. What a great amount of fear and stress this creates! How can you be 100% sure they are out to get you?
You see a future full of pitfalls.
You finally have a dinner date with a person you really like. Instead of thinking how great this is and how much you are going to enjoy the evening, you focus on the ways that this evening is going to be a disaster. You are so focused on all the negative things that might happen you don’t see the benefits and opportunities before you. You could be missing something great!
You are a victim of your expectations.
A co-worker you admire has been paired with you on a project. You have great ideas for how the project should be handled. You expected to asked for your ideas but aren’t. Because you weren’t asked, you didn’t voice them, as a result you feel angry and hurt. Or you expected to be the lead player but aren’t. You feel slighted and resentful. In both cases you are projecting yourself as a victim based on your expectations. Allowing yourself to be open to the situation rather than on your expectations makes life so much easier.
You are the sun and the the world rotates around you.
When planning an outing do you insist that everyone follow your plan? When you are having a bad day do you make sure all your friends and family know about it? These behaviors could be seriously making life more difficult for you. By making things less about you and more about others would make for smoother relationships and less tension.
You are stuck in neutral.
You have great plans and ideas, but somehow they never get off the ground.
When others inquire about the progress you are making with the plans, your answer is that you are waiting for the right moment. The problem is that the right time never comes. You have to take that first step before things can begin moving.
You always play it safe.
You are the person who researches every little thing to make sure you are making the best choice. You never do anything impulsive or take any chances. Change and uncertainty are your enemies. Unfortunately, life isn’t predicable or safe. Sometimes you have to take a risk to move forward.
You are a societal clone .
You know everything about your friends because they are just like you. You are constantly watching them and they are constantly watching you. If fact you pay so much attention to others in your group you know immediately when one steps out of the mold. Fear of being different binds you together. Wouldn’t life be so much easier if you could followed your passions and desires rather copying others?
You can’t let go.
She embarrassed you in front of your colleagues and you are never going to forgive her. Sound familiar? In another situation, you know you are right about how this should be done and nothing is going to change your mind. Has this attitude ever embarrassed you when you were proven wrong? When you not longer need to fuel past transgressions or the need to be right life takes on a totally new focus.
You are a taker and not a giver.
Your friends are great about coming over to help you, but when they need your help you disappear. If you do come out to help, you often do it grudgingly. You tend to be more focused on your phone than on the job at hand or make excuses to leave early. It won’t take long for others to figure this out and you may find that others aren’t willing to help you any more. Giving and receiving go hand in hand.
You have weak boundaries.
You are generous to a fault. Friends and family know that if they need anything they can borrow it from you. The problems arises when they borrow things and then forget to return them. You may ask for them back, but get the brush off. Because you don’t want to create waves in your relationship, nothing happens. This results in you being inconvenienced and possibly feeling used, but until you set some boundaries this will continue to happen. Set your boundaries and learn to say no.
Life does not have to be difficult or a struggle. Much of it depends on you.
Are you ready to take control?
Featured photo credit: Having a bad day?/Melisa D. via flickr.com
