The Best Version of Yourself

It seems like this year I have encountered lots of disappointment in the various arenas of my world.  That is not to say that normally I do not have to manage differing degrees of disappointment but recently it sure seems like it is dominating most discussions.  It is taking many forms too.  Job dissatisfaction, mad at teachers or coaches, politics, and just plain being down on life are daily conversations and it can really wear on a guy.  I try hard to listen and be accommodating, but I really try hard not to let it bring me down too.

The best response I can give these poor souls is to just be the best version of yourself that you can be.  I think that is all you can do to make it in a complex world with so many twists and turns.  When you are being the best version of yourself that you can be, the noise just starts to go away and you are confident in your decision making.  So how can one do this? 

Live off of your uniqueness, not your troubles.  Everyone has a talent, skill, quality or characteristic that makes them unique in some way.  I attended a training last week in which a speaker told the crowd that they were not special.  He further explained that each of us were miracles instead.  He pointed out the the odds and probability of just being in that room at that time.  What are the chances that your parents would meet and their parents and so on.  The math is difficult to grasp, but he had a point.  There is really no one just like you and you should see your station in life as an opportunity.

Let your faith guide you.  I don't care what faith you belong to, but all of them ask this of us.  This is no accident.  As Christians we are asked to chase Christ's example and love others as God has loved us.  To forgive others as God forgave us seems to be the speed bump that we all hit.  People do wrong us at times and it makes us question and compromise the best version of ourselves.  Stay the course my friends.  If we all forgave each other collectively without any expectation of reciprocity, it would make a huge impact on how we live and treat each other.

People will gravitate towards your best version.  This is the best part of being the best version of yourself.  All of your relationships will be more genuine and rewarding.  When people value you for your uniqueness and kindness, they will want nothing exchange from you other than to be part of your world.  Can you identify those who are always demanding more of you?  More than simply being part of your experience on this Earth?  We all know who the toxic people are because they are easy to spot, but don't alienate yourself from the people that really get you.  They deserve your time.

I know all this sounds elementary and not really a ground breaking set of ideas.  Think about it.  We let conflicts convince ourselves that we are not good at being us.  We often ignore the messages of our faith instead of setting guideposts based on it.  We build relationships around give and take  instead of how people can compliment us, and then complain about all the drama.  Just be the best version of yourself that you can be.  It's difficult but I'm working on it.  Life's too short to be unhappy.