In part 1 of this article, I told a story from my youth about how I learned the importance of keeping the shades open. The literal interpretation of that story is all about your physical surroundings and how a positive environment can affect your attitude and even your health. But there is a metaphorical side to that story that is just as important.
The well-lit hospital room in that story was a metaphor for your life. Is it one filled with friendship, positive experiences and happiness? Or have you surrounded yourself with situations and people that make your life feel like the shades are down?
One of my instructors in the martial arts taught me "Surround yourself with smart people and you become smart. Surround yourself with nice people and you become nice. Surround yourself with happy people and you become happy."
The easy way to end this article is for me to say something like "Start spending more time with the positive folks in your life and less time with the negative ones." Sure, that's good advice and will help you develop more control over your own happiness but I'm going to go a different route...
If the people you see each day were to take stock of the folks in *their* life, which group would *you* end up in? Would you be grouped with the smart, nice, happy ones? Or would you be in the group that they want to minimize contact with?
Are you comfortable with the answer to that question?
I suspect most of us are not 100% in one group or the other. With some people, you are "good folk". But with some, maybe you've developed behaviors that make you come across as difficult, negative or unhappy.
Asking and answering questions like this about yourself is never easy. And acting on those answers is even harder.
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