The real-life jewel is the freedom to choose the palette of our emotional sky at any moment which is the greatest of human freedoms. It is only through our own energy and emotions that we are able to experience life. Our beliefs and behaviors must be directed in order to achieve joy and gratitude in our lives.
Our daily attitude must be colored by those emotions, constantly and repeatedly, so that they become our daily rhythm. Let us make this our mission, even though it will not be easy. Despite hardship, pain, and injustice, maintaining our joy and gratitude might be the most severe requirement of the good life.
In order to achieve self-mastery and happiness, this is a requirement. Therefore, it’s up to us to notice when we’re bored or depressed-and to force ourselves outside to have fun. Our team deserves our appreciation even when a project fails, and our spouse deserves our appreciation even during a conflict.
A joyful engagement and a deep appreciation of life cannot be achieved without taking our energy at every moment and transforming it into mastery of life. We will hear from the self-proclaimed “realists” that this is impossible. Those who have given up hope will say our world is too stressful and cruel, our genetics and environment will dictate what we feel and how we feel.
In their view, we are bound by our unconscious minds and reptilian impulses for fear and selfishness no matter how hard we try. However, we need to let our own minds decide what’s real and what’s possible. We will see a starkly different, brighter lot among the bored and battered faces.
While our times are full of darkness and despair, there are those whose faces shine with joy and charisma, showing that hope and joy still exist. Individuals like these are energizers, the cheerful ones who inspire and enliven others around them, despite their own backgrounds, genetics, and environments that might make them passive and detached.
There is a possibility that they too came from a broken home or poverty. While their blessings may be fewer and more meager than others, rather than choosing bitterness, they seem blissfully aware and deeply grateful of their blessings. They are not “lucky,” nor are they to be envied, but rather they are energized, happy, and thankful.
We can all benefit from their treasures. Attitude is their treasure, which they freely choose. In a world that is chaotic, agitated, and often angry, choosing joy can be difficult. Because the human mind is susceptible to negativity, social contagion spreads quickly. In order to feel and reflect emotions in the world around us, we are wired to sense and mirror them.
People can become scared when they see fear on their faces. It was once beneficial to spread emotions through contagious behavior. When grave danger threatened, it was a blessing. Seeing our friends’ terrified faces and seeing them fleeing from some unseen threat, we automatically felt afraid and joined them, even before knowing what the threat was.
Neither a prowling animal nor a murderous group of men could eat or maim us as a result. In reality, this primal protection now poses a mortal threat. The mirroring impulse can ruin our lives if there are no predators out hunting our flesh, when we have nothing to fear but fear itself, and when there are boredom, fear, and sullen people all around us.
