If you are on a mountaintop in the journey of living, soak in all the joy that comes with comfort, security, the gratification of success…. whatever “happy feeling” you might be experiencing. But don’t get too comfortable. It will soon pass and you will eventually find yourself at the bottom of a different mountain.
Before you take your brain into a fox hole in fear of being bombarded with bullets of pessimism………. the take-away is quite the opposite.
If you find yourself on the mountain top of life, soak it in.
And
Take notes.
You didn’t get here by accident.
There is a term in the psychological world called temporal self-appraisal which means as humans, we often view the present self, past self, and future self in different “buckets.” And it is the combination of these “three selves” that form our identity.
This “identity” oftentimes has a great influence on our behaviors.
If you believe your past (mistakes) have helped you to grow into a better version of who you are today, you will view your “mistakes/failures” very differently than if you believe you are not where you “should be” because of your past failures.
For example, someone who says “I wasn’t taking care of my health but I learned from that experience and now I make better lifestyle decisions”.
Versus
Someone who says “I wasn’t taking care of my health and now I am too (sick, heavy, depressed..etc) to do anything about it”.
The appraisal of our past, influences the appraisal of our present and our future.
So, if you are on a mountain top, soak it in. The way you perceive the experience and the skills you developed to get here will be valuable tools in the future.
On the other hand, you might be in a valley. Same rules, different opponent. Soak it in.
And
Take notes.
There may have been mistakes you have made. Learn from them. Or at least, document them for your future self, appraising your current (past) self. In other words, there will come a time (in the future) when the lessons you are learning today will serve you.
It is so much fun to talk to people in their 70’s/80’s. Often times they are much more content than those in their 30’s/40’s. But more than that, they seem to want to teach you how to avoid some of the mistakes they have made. More often than not, without guilt or shame, but with a hint of pride. “I ended up here (happy, healthy, content) despite my (bad) decisions”. Past self-appraisal influencing present self-appraisal.
Here is the point. If you are in a “valley”, you have the power to climb out. You have done it many times before. Use the lessons you learned and allow them to start writing the story of your future self.
Are you currently on a mountaintop? If so, how did you get here? What were your habits and behaviors that got you here?
If you are currently going through a difficult situation, what lessons can you learn from these circumstances? What have you overcome in the past? What skills did you develop to overcome your previous challenges? (There is a skill you developed, keep reflecting until you find it).
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