Why Be Miserable?

Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice.

Wayne Dyer

I bought a condo three years ago this month and I still feel like I’m moving in.  It feels so new, even though the building is thirty years old.

Although there are fewer than forty units in the building, I’ve not yet met all my neighbors.  Just last week I got into a conversation at the mailbox with Moira, an elderly resident, who’s been here since the building opened.  She raised her family here.

Moira told me that she and her husband grew up in the mid-West and came to Los Angeles soon after they got married.  She wanted a house; he didn’t.  He insisted they live in a condo and so they were one of the first to buy in this building.

She told me this story with disgust in her voice but when she was done, Moira asked almost boastfully: I’ve been miserable all these thirty years––can you believe that?

I laughed and assured her that I do believe her––she never met my grandmother who was miserable for most of her ninety-eight years!  It’s so easy to be miserable and in its own way is such a delicious feeling. 

I recently posted the story of a CVS pharmacy clerk who role-modeled a powerful person.  Well, power always comes when you avoid casting blame on some one or some thing for feeling bad about your life. 

The truth is that people and events only have as much power as we give to them.  You control your thinking as well as your actions stemming from that thinking.  And that’s power!

As I left my neighbor I found myself feeling sorry for her––not because she had led a miserable life, but rather because she had surrendered her power to a condo.

What about you?  Are you miserable?!  Why?  Is it really because of someone else?  In what ways can you choose power?