Have you ever experienced feeling miserable for no apparent reason at all? Here’s the sharing of inspirational speaker and author Bo Sanchez in Didache, January – December 2018 issue: "When I was an awkward teenager, a few classmates said I was a killjoy because I didn’t smoke, drink, and take weed. Far from being boring, my life has been epic with excitement because I followed Jesus. There are people though, who wonder why their lives are miserable. I talked to a man who couldn’t stop gambling. His wife couldn’t take it anymore so she left with their kids. He now lives alone and wonders why his life is empty."
"I talked to a 48-year-old man who was into drugs for 24 years. He has no job, his wife hates him, his kids don’t respect him — and he wonders why he is so miserable."
"I talked to a woman who owed her creditors P8 million. She told me her story, and there I saw three sins: envy, because she wanted for herself what her friends have; lying, because she hid her loans from her husband; and deceit, because she borrowed money from friends and promise to pay them, even if she knew that she wouldn’t be able to.”
The scenarios that Sanchez painted are just some of the reasons a person can become miserable. I believe that if we are discontented on what we have, and envy our neighbors for what they have, we will also be miserable. Because we could never be happy in this world if we focus on "keeping up with the Joneses.”
If you are miserable because of the situation you are in now, Brian Roberts of “being-happy website," points out the following steps that can help one prevent from falling into a rut of misery:
Stop isolating yourself. Humans don’t just survive – we thrive on human contact. Stop isolating yourself and don’t reject help from someone.
Stop being a people pleaser. There’s a good chance you’re spending a lot of time trying to make sure everyone is happy around you. Your self-worth shouldn’t be dependent upon the acceptance of others.
Stop comparing yourself. You are your own person. Stop viewing others as your standard of reference, or your standard of happiness. Stop worrying.
Be bold. Don’t sit around for things to happen. Get active. Make noise. Take action. Be bold. Determine what it is that you want out of life and go get it.
Be real. This is very important. Don’t attach yourself to any end result. Expectation leads to disappointment, disappointment leads to irregular effort, and irregular effort leads to failure.
Start living. Don’t sulk in the past mistakes and poor choices. What’s the point if it can’t be undone? If you’ve learned from it, move on. If it can’t be changed, drop it. Don’t miss out on the beauty of life in front of you because you’re too busy stuck in the clouds. Live in the moment and not stuck in the past.