Daily writing prompt

How do significant life events or the passage of time influence your perspective on life?

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The big picture things. That’s what I call this. They have a huge effect on me, on my mind, on my perception, on my memory. In particular, anything that is big that happens in a good way can fuel my happiness for untold amounts of time. Likewise, the bad can stick with me for far longer than I’d prefer.

I’d like to say those bad events wash away pretty easily the next time a good event comes about, but that isn’t always the case. Knowing I was mistreated or betrayed by someone I trusted stuck with me a lot longer than I wanted, and threatened to move into the positive aspects of my life as well.

Fortunately, those areas are where we do have control. I do my best to hold those positive moments in far higher esteem than any negatives, and I am always advocating to help others do the same. If we let it, the negative can fuel our psyches in a way that will always lead us to harm and unhappiness – but by opening ourselves to the positive and the healing influence of time itself, we will be able to fight it.

Daily writing prompt

How do significant life events or the passage of time influence your perspective on life?

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For a long time I didn’t realize just how these things could influence the way I look at the world around me, but as I’ve matured it seems more and more I reflect on them. It’s definitely not a stretch of the imagination to say my happy memories and experiences have made me in large part who I am today. Between traveling and being with my wife, to writing and attending conferences, I can look back on those things and see how I want more of them. So far as life events, that can be both good and bad, of course. My wedding, our first (and every subsequent cruise), my first day teaching at my school, all of these things have a profound positive influence on me. I can see the benefits of keeping those memories close to my heart and I feel that it helps me to grow and improve as a human.

On the other hand, the loss of family members, bad days, and sad events are just as important. Coming off the loss of my biological father, I can definitely say the entire experience of a 30+ year bad relationship with him to literally not knowing who he was as a person as I looked into his coffin, has had a profound effect on me. Not in the least it shows me more than ever how important it is to maintain proper mental health, and to let those who matter to you know how you feel. Perhaps, by saying nothing, he said all he needed to, which is fine. For the rest of us, however, we can use events in our lives – both good and bad – to improve on ourselves and our abilities and generally take life lessons forward that will make us better and happier if we let them.