By Ryan Bradshaw
Faculty member, Retail Management at American Public University
I am a writer. Being a writer is one of those things that you just have to declare like being an artist or musician. I only have so many words that I can share and so I want to make them valuable to you.
If you think about your life, you can probably reduce it down to a few highs and lows: special birthdays, graduations, falling in love, breaking up, weddings, births, deaths, the first real job, career changes, and other key moments.
I think about my own life, laid out like sheet music to a grand unfinished symphony. It starts slowly, purposefully, peacefully, with promise and a theme that foreshadows things to come. It glides through the spring and feels the desire burning of summer, the dying of the fall, the emptiness of winter, and the rebirth of spring again.
Life is cyclical. It’s never going to always be the same as it is now. As the saying goes, the only constant in life is change.
[Related: Tales of a Recovering College Dropout]
By now you must be wondering what I’m talking about. The secret of happiness is a small combination of a few absolute truths.
- Everything changes
- You have to power to affect change, but with limits
- You can’t control every aspect of what happens in life
- The past is over and the future is undefined
- Right here, right now is where the magic happens
I know a lot of motivational/inspirational types try to sell people on the fact that they have unlimited potential. And people do have vast amounts of potential. However, you have to understand that even with all good intentions and effort, sometimes things just don’t work out. And that is okay.
For even the best poker player in the world, sometime the wrong card falls. It’s easy to get caught up in the past or fixated on the future, but this is futile. Worrying about past mistakes or missed opportunities won’t help now or later. The idea is to be at peace with the past, vigilant toward the future, and live in the here and now.
You only get so much time just as a writer only gets so many words. Use it preciously. Do things that matter. Find what makes you happy in life and go for it.
If it doesn’t work out there are other things – the simple things of life – that can make you happy. The secret of happiness is living, really living, in this moment and being able to release the burdens of the past and future. If you can know this and do this, you will find all aspects of your life – work, family, school, and other pursuits – will become brighter.
Maybe this is just my version of what I believe to be true. All I can do is share and leave it to you to determine if it fits with your life.
When I’m finished I will go home and tell my wife I love her, spend some time with my children, and may find my way back to a keyboard to continue my journey with the written word. After all, I am a writer and my symphony is still being written.
About the Author: Ryan Bradshaw is an ABD doctoral candidate studying student motivation and educational leadership. His dissertation is examining intrinsic and extrinsic motivational differences amongst undergraduate majors.
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