3310: 10 Feel Good Thoughts for a Bad Day by Marc Chernoff of Marc and Angel on Finding Happiness

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[00:00:36] Living Daily.

[00:00:38] This is Optimal Living Daily, 10 Feel Good Thoughts for a Bad Day by Marc Chernoff of

[00:00:44] MarcandAngel.com and I'm Justin Malik.

[00:00:48] Let me jump right into today's post as we optimize your life.

[00:00:55] 10 Feel Good Thoughts for a Bad Day by Marc Chernoff of MarcandAngel.com

[00:01:02] Sometimes I catch myself staring at the people around me, studying their mannerisms and expressions.

[00:01:09] I wonder, what's their story?

[00:01:12] What are they searching for?

[00:01:13] What makes their heart beat with happiness, with sorrow, with fear, with longing?

[00:01:19] And then I ask myself, what words might I post on this blog to inspire them and to remind them that

[00:01:27] even on the toughest of days, our hearts all beat for these same things.

[00:01:32] Today I figured I'd share some of these words with you.

[00:01:36] Number one, we are all in this together.

[00:01:40] Nobody has it easy, we all have issues.

[00:01:44] When you look at a person, any person, remember that everyone has a story.

[00:01:48] Everyone has gone through something that has changed them and forced them to grow.

[00:01:53] Every passing face on the street represents a story every bit as compelling and complicated as yours.

[00:02:00] You'll never know exactly what they're going through, and they'll never know exactly what you are going through.

[00:02:05] We are all fighting our own unique war, but we're fighting through it simultaneously together.

[00:02:12] Read The Road Less Traveled

[00:02:15] Number two, you aren't supposed to be perfect.

[00:02:19] Live life, experience everything.

[00:02:22] Take care of yourself and those closest to you.

[00:02:25] Have fun, be a little crazy and weird.

[00:02:28] Go out and make mistakes, you're going to anyway.

[00:02:32] Enjoy yourself and exploit the countless opportunities to learn something along the way.

[00:02:38] Figure out what works and what doesn't.

[00:02:40] Don't try to be perfect, just be an excellent example of being human and being you.

[00:02:47] Number three, there are reasons to smile all around you.

[00:02:51] A teenage girl blushed when I caught her playfully tickling her boyfriend as he looked for a book in the library.

[00:02:57] I smiled.

[00:02:58] A middle-aged man got down on his knees and lovingly scratched his dog behind the ears as they waited across the street.

[00:03:05] I smiled.

[00:03:06] A little girl skipped in bright white shoes that were obviously new, happily kicking her feet far out in front of her to admire them.

[00:03:14] I smiled.

[00:03:16] On days when you don't have much in your life to smile about, watch those who do and you'll smile too.

[00:03:23] Number four, tough times help us grow.

[00:03:27] We work hard to disown the parts of our lives that were painful, difficult or sad.

[00:03:32] But just as we can't rip chapters out of a book and expect the story to still make sense,

[00:03:37] so we cannot rip past chapters out of our lives and expect our lives to still make sense.

[00:03:44] Keep every chapter of your life intact and keep on turning the pages.

[00:03:49] Sooner or later you'll get to a page that brings it all together

[00:03:52] and you'll suddenly understand why every page and chapter before it was needed.

[00:03:58] Number five, repetition is not failure.

[00:04:03] In those frustrating moments when you find yourself standing face to face with an issue you battled before

[00:04:07] and one bearing a lesson you were sure you'd already learned, remember repetition is not failure.

[00:04:15] Ask the waves, ask the leaves, ask the wind.

[00:04:20] Repetition is sometimes required to evolve and grow.

[00:04:24] Number six, no matter what you have a purpose.

[00:04:29] Having a bad day it's okay, put your hand on your heart.

[00:04:33] Feel that? That's called purpose.

[00:04:36] You're alive for a reason. Don't give up.

[00:04:40] You may lose the people you love, you may lose the things you have

[00:04:43] but no matter what happens never lose yourself.

[00:04:48] Read a new earth.

[00:04:50] Number seven, being true to yourself is always the best option.

[00:04:55] Being true to yourself is way better than being a liar just to impress everyone else.

[00:05:00] Don't change so people will like you.

[00:05:02] You may not live up to everyone's standards but there are people out there who will love you just the way you are.

[00:05:08] And besides people will judge you regardless so you might as well be yourself when they do.

[00:05:14] Number eight, you don't always have to be happy and cheerful.

[00:05:18] Sometimes you have to deal with issues and show others your uncomfortable side.

[00:05:23] It's perfectly okay, it's a natural part of being human.

[00:05:26] And the good news is that these tough moments will often show you who will accept you at your worst and who won't.

[00:05:34] Number nine, right now is a fresh start.

[00:05:38] Talk about your blessings more than you talk about your problems.

[00:05:42] It's a bright new day, a new beginning.

[00:05:44] Your future is too bright to waste it fighting needless battles with old issues from the past.

[00:05:52] Read the power of now.

[00:05:54] And number ten, it's okay to let some things go.

[00:05:59] You need to understand that none of us are playing with marked cards.

[00:06:03] Sometimes we win and sometimes we lose.

[00:06:06] Life always finds its balance.

[00:06:08] Don't expect to get back everything you give.

[00:06:10] Don't expect recognition for all your efforts.

[00:06:14] And don't expect your genius to be instantly discovered or your love to be understood by everyone.

[00:06:20] As you live and experience things, you must recognize what works and what doesn't,

[00:06:25] what belongs and what doesn't, and then let things go when you know you should.

[00:06:30] Not out of pride, inability or arrogance, but simply because not everything is supposed to fit into your life.

[00:06:38] Close the door, change the record, clean the house, get rid of the dust.

[00:06:44] Stop being who you were so you can become who you are.

[00:06:52] You just listened to the post titled Ten Feel Good Thoughts for a Bad Day by Mark Shurnoff of markandangel.com

[00:06:59] and I'll be right back with my commentary.

[00:07:02] Thank you to Mark.

[00:07:04] For sure anyone could use one of these reminders if not all of them at some point.

[00:07:09] Thinking about all of us being in this together, I work on this podcast every single day

[00:07:14] but when I'm recording I'm all alone so as personal as it is it's also very isolated and impersonal in a way.

[00:07:24] It's easy to forget that you listening have your own story, your own struggles.

[00:07:29] We're all fighting our own battles but we're all sort of doing it side by side even if we can't see it.

[00:07:35] I thought that was a nice reminder.

[00:07:37] And smiling has come up on this show before and I do think it's not talked about enough.

[00:07:42] Personally I see it even more because my Tai Chi instructor forces us to smile pretty much through the entire class

[00:07:49] which might sound tough or exhausting but it's actually the opposite.

[00:07:54] It's hard to worry about things when we're smiling in the moment like that.

[00:07:57] It's another good simple reminder.

[00:08:00] And while these are simple they are easy to forget

[00:08:03] and that's what I hope this podcast can do, serve as a daily reminder when we're in our usual grind.

[00:08:11] So hopefully it's been working for you, it has been for me.

[00:08:14] And with that have a great rest of your day.

[00:08:15] Thank you for being here and I'll see you tomorrow for The Friday Show where your optimal life awaits.