DAY 72 – IMAGINE WHAT IT MUST BE LIKE TO BE A PERSON WHO

My brother and I are thirty year old twins. This is the only similarity we have to each other.

During our youth I tried to do my best in school and did well while my brother would skip classes and had failing grades. I graduated from a good college and he went to a trade school but dropped out before completing it. I have worked for one company since college and he goes from job to job which never lasts for more than a few months. I have a nice home to live in and he at times has lived in a homeless shelter. While the two of us have similar genes we are two completely different people.

Seeing what my brother has done with his life has made me appreciate the life I have created for myself. Life has not been a completely smooth ride for me but I have learned how to deal with the difficult moments with a maturity that does not let those difficulties linger or get to me where I become distraught and distressed by them.

When life doesn’t turn out as I want it to I understand that there will be situations that are stressful and I will find ways to persevere through it until I find a way to resolve it or the difficulty just fades away over time. I try to not let any difficulty define who I am as a person and what I can do about it. My mindset allows me to see past the immediate problem to a point in time where my life gets back to where I want it to be.

My brother, on the other hand, has made poor choices after poor choices in how to live his life. When life does not turn out as he wants it to he then believes many of those situations are hopeless and he cannot do anything that will help alleviate the problem. He becomes so annoyed and angry at his plight that he turns to alcohol and drugs to calm himself down and soothe his emotional pain. He does not fully comprehend that how he deals with existing or potential distress is not the method by which problems will not develop or quickly go away.

It is important to understand that there are so many things in life that a person can be enthusiastic and joyful about. From the people we love and care so much for and who gladly reciprocate their love and caring to the things we enjoy doing, human beings have meaning in their life that can carry them through any situation. By tapping into this part of life it puts personal difficulties in its proper place, something we have to deal with but nothing that will take us away from finding joy, happiness and fulfillment.

I now realize that by having people in my life that I love and things I enjoy doing I have meaning to my life that helps me to stay grounded and act in life enhancing ways. There is no reason to engage in self-destructive behaviors that makes my life more difficult than I want it to be.