The Joy of Life

These are people who approach others with suspicion and constantly assume the worst of people’s intentions in everything. I believe that breeds a life of anxiety and even anger.

You end up spending your time worrying about the other person’s “bad” intentions before there is even proof. And what a waste of time that is. This will also cause you to be biased to negative misunderstandings that breed conflict without actual basis. It’s easier to forgive than it is to worry. Peace over anxiety.

Now I’m not saying go around and trust people left and right and believe everything and everyone. I’m saying it doesn’t matter. Obviously always put yourself first and trust your gut. And always put your safety first too. But not everything in life has dire consequences. Most of the time, it doesn’t. With time, everything passes. What’s important is you’re a good person and you’re doing what you believe is right. So why not give others the same benefit of the doubt? If they turn out to be rotten, well at least you did what you felt was right, you can sleep at night, you had a good time even. Forgive and let go. Forgiveness is something I hand out freely.

The letting go part is also part of it. When it comes to people, cutting ties or keeping that relationship will depend on the intentions and the strength of the relationship but it also depends heavily on how that person impacts you. Even the best of intentions and the strongest of relationships need to be cut sometimes if they’re having a deeply negative impact on who you are. But that’s another topic.

What I want to say here is be innocent. Not naive. But innocent. There’s a big difference. You’re not an idiot, you know there is more to others than the spoken word, and you’re smart, so you can trust your gut. But we’re all biased and we shouldn’t let our experiences dictate how we perceive others. Give others the benefit of the doubt.

I believe that makes you happier because you don’t have that constant “the world is out to get me” state of mind, even when it does. Just assume that there were no ill intentions behind it. People are complicated. But you’re strong enough to forgive and move on.