but it should be consistent in your life.

From my family, to my friends, to my own wife...

I have been told at times that I cannot just cover up feelings with extreme optimism and "you can't always be happy."

Don't get me wrong, I deserve/deserved to hear it. They are/were right.

My defense mechanism in tough times is to put up a guard and demand joy and happiness from myself and others.

This is not fair to myself, or to anyone around me.

Feelings deserve to be felt.

EVERY SINGLE FEELING ON THE SPECTRUM DESERVES IT!

You shouldn't bottle them up.

That is what makes life beautiful.

Yet, some feelings should not linger more than you should allow them.

Meaning, you, me, we... should be building lifestyle habits that keep us in a consistent flow of joy, happiness, and gratitude.

Why?

Because our first thought, our first feeling, they are not within our control. The human existence is a magical one that has feelings come up from deep within us.

However, once you have that thought, or that feeling in your body & mind...

how you RESPOND is YOUR CHOICE.

Here is a practical example for you...

Example: Lets say you are out somewhere and there is an altercation. Someone random just ends up punching you in the face.

What do you do?

Now my question to you is how often are your emotions the random person who is punching you in the face?

It is extremely hard not to punch back right?!?!

An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind though.

And you, me, a lot of the world is leaving ourselves blind to what our lives could be if we would just spent the time to learn to have the discipline to reset punching back.

This discipline can show up in the forms of meditating and taking some controlled/deep breaths when you are feeling anxious, exercising when you are feeling angry, or going for a walk in the park when you are feeling down.

This email isn't about giving you solutions though.

I just want you to take a few minutes to think about your life and how many times you are the type of person who lets your emotion dictate your life.

Are you the person that punches back?

Or are you the person who has restraint and is the bigger person?

If you can consistently show restraint, you will ultimately be able to feel the punch of the first emotion...yet respond in a more appropriate way.

This week, take note of how many punches get thrown at you, and how many you throw back.

Happy Monday!

#thriveon

CJ

p.s. today I am grateful to be writing this as I stare out of a huge window and look at this...

nature is awesome.