#3. At times, you will be the villain.
My grandfather always said. “the one who loves you well will make you cry.”
I guess it’s because the truth hurts. (but heals)
And the truth may be ugly and hard to accept, but its lessons will make your life beautiful.
Here are five ugly lessons that made my life a beautiful place, and I hope they do the same for you.
1. Some goodbyes heal
What is not for you, is not for you, and you have to accept it.
You belong to no one, and no one belongs to you. We all have a mission to accomplish, and sometimes our paths cross, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to the same place.
Everything has a beginning and an end. And sometimes, you will walk with someone for a while, but you will be separated at some point.
And if you insist on chasing that person or on keeping them with you, the only thing you will do is fill your life with pain and reproaches.
Beautify your life by surrounding yourself with people who don’t tie you down and want to see you happy, even if it means having to say “goodbye” to you.
(And do the same for them)
2. Failure is the way
The one who tries the most is the one who fails the most, but also the one who succeeds the most. It is a simple question of statistics.
Whatever you do, a part of you will want to have done something else. But if you don’t dare to do something with your life for fear of failure, regret will consume you at the end of your days.
You weren’t born to sit on the sidelines; you must go out and play.
And, of course, you will lose. You will do it over and over again until you eventually win. And at that point, your most valuable prize will be recognizing that it was the journey that mattered, all the times you lost because that taught you how to win.
3. At times, you will be the villain
You are also the mistake, the wound, and the bad guy in someone’s life.
This lesson is harsh but accurate.
In my 20s, I thought I was a guy to whom bad things happened because of injustice and bad luck. At 33, I started to wake up, and since then, I have realized more and more that the guy I was in my 20s was far from being a good person.
I’ve cheated, hurt, betrayed, and, most of all, cheated myself. But sooner or later, something called conscience wakes up in you, and you start to see clearly.
And no one in this world is 100% good or 100% bad.
Remember that when someone hurts you. I’m not saying you should keep the one who hurts you in your life; I say it is worthless to carry the weight of hatred and resentment.
The best revenge is to be seen be happy. Don’t let them steal your smile.
4. The bad times are also often the best
The warrior never feels more alive than during battle.
No one wants bad things to happen to them, but we only savor the good moments in life by contrast.
Personal satisfaction works a bit like when you walk around all day in shoes that are too small for you and when you get home, you take them off, and you feel relieved.
The mountain has to be steep to shout “Yes! I did it” to the wind when you reach the top and feel like the king of the world.
The bad moments are the ones you remember most fondly. Because overcoming them makes you feel proud of yourself, you can’t help but sigh and feel at peace.
5. Life has the most expensive tax of all, the death tax
The day you least expect it, you will be left with nothing: no houses, no money, no nice clothes, no time… because in the game of life when the game is over, even the chips go back in the box.
The house you live in probably belonged to someone else before you lived there. And maybe that person lived in it thinking it was his (as you feel now), but one day he died, and life charged him the most expensive tax of all, the death tax, and took everything from him, even his body.
That’s why you have to live thinking less about material things to have a wonderful life.
I’m not saying that you don’t have money; money is necessary to live a good life and make this world a better place but,
- Don’t miss your child’s sixth birthday by going to a work meeting.
- Don’t miss your daughter’s first baseball game to get a new client.
- Don’t settle for seeing your parents or grandparents (if you still have them) by Skype because you don’t have time between business trips to go and give them a big hug.
Because one day they won’t be here or you won’t be here, all that will be left are the memories of the moments you shared and all the love you left behind.
A virtual hug
AG
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