In a world full of people who seem angry all the time, I’m focused on becoming the guy who’s almost never upset.
Life is too short.
I find myself saying this phrase a lot lately.
Maybe, it’s that I’m on the final 3rd of the journey on planet earth or it’s possible that I’m maturing a bit as I age (my family will challenge this second assumption).
In a world full of people who seem angry all the time, I’m focused on becoming the guy who’s almost never upset.
There’re 3 important reasons behind this approach:
- Most of what I get upset about (IU basketball, Nebraska football) is trivial and relatively unimportant in the grand scheme of things.
- Even if something is important (political leadership, national debt, global warming, etc.) there’s very little I can do about it (other than vote and support candidates).
- I don’t have the patience to learn enough about most issues (AI, rising health care costs, etc.), so I don’t believe I’ve earned the right to be angry about something I don’t understand.
Here’s how this thought experiment is changing my life.
I’m experiencing less stress, finding more joy, and uttering the phrase “Those people are idiots!” a lot less (although, it hasn’t been eliminated, idiots still do exist).
More importantly, I’m now able to focus more of my time and energy on the things I understand and where I can make a meaningful difference.
CJ McClanahan
—CJ McClanahan
Speaker | Advisor | Recovering Overachiever
CJ McClanahan
