How Will You Respond?

Today is another “Jakeism”. Although technically I stole this one from my dad.

Life’s not fair. People don’t act right.

My dad used to say this to me as a kid when I complained of something not being fair.

For the longest time, I thought of this saying as just a response to someone who was whining. To most people (myself included for a while) it sounds like whining when you say it. Can’t you picture someone slumped down in disgust saying “Life’s not fair. People don’t act right.”? Almost using it as an excuse for not doing the right thing themselves.

As I have thought about this one over the years, it is actually one of the most freeing statements you can make. Life’s not fair. There is no promise that things will or should work in a way that everyone would call fair, so don’t worry about it. Don’t spend time trying to make others actions and situations you find yourself in fit into a “fair” view of the world. People don’t act right. You don’t control what others do and should stop worrying about their idiosyncrasies. You only control your attitude and how you respond to them.

If you don’t spend your time worrying about whether every situation is fair to you (because they won’t be) and how other people are not acting the way you want them to (because they won’t) and instead spend your time focusing on yourself and the positive changes you can make in yourself, you will be a much happier person.

And the pay off….if you think positively and don’t worry about the other stuff that can get in the way, you will have less of the other stuff. You will find yourself whining less about life not being fair and people not acting right. You will find yourself full of energy and happiness and you won’t even have time to whine about others and whether not things are fair because you will have so much of the good stuff.

Jake