A very common sentence to hear in your head.
A very common sentence to hear in a coaching session.
And a very reliable way to hand your emotional life over to circumstances you don’t control and be forever unhappy with something.
You know the phrase, “Happiness is an inside job.”
Nice on a mug. Harder to practice in real life.
In those moments, when things you don’t want land on your plate, and you can’t change them - that’s where you’ll see whether it’s a skill you have, or just a phrase you like.
Sometimes life looks like this:
A lawsuit many things depend on dragging on for years.
A promotion you didn’t get, a job you lost.
A business idea crushed by new regulations.
A diagnosis that changes how you have to live your life from now on.
A job you are stuck in with people you don’t enjoy working with.
A place you don’t love living in.
Someone walking away and leaving a hole in your chest.
Things happen.
Things you don’t want will happen. Many times.
And it’s in this exact moment, not in the easy seasons, that you find out whether “happiness is an inside job” is a skill… or just a phrase on a mug.
This isn’t about putting a fake smile on your face.
It’s not about pretending you’re fine when you’re not.
It’s about learning to separate things you can and can not control, things you can change and things you have to accept, and then honestly asking yourself this question, that I stole from one of the top coaches out there,
“Did I do my best to make myself happy today?”
Not once everything is fixed.
Not once the lawsuit ends.
Not once the person apologizes or changes.
Not once the diagnosis changes or you get better (sometimes you don't).
But now.
With all the mess still on the table.
Without escaping reality.
Without denial.
Did you move your body?
Called someone you love? Somoneone you're grateful for?
Shifted your attention for 20 minutes to music and projects you're excited about?
Did one thing that gave you strength and belief instead of draining you?
Inner peace is not the absence of problems.
It’s the presence of choice inside them.
Over to you, dear reader,
What’s stealing your peace today?
And is it a battle worth fighting, or something to accept so you can redirect your energy toward what can bring more joy?
“God grant me the serenity to accept things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can and Wisdom to know the difference.”
