Life Lessons From a Calendar

I’m tying up some loose ends for my last couple of days at my summer job at Chattanooga’s newspaper, and part of that entails going through some old to-do lists and making sure everything gets finished. I have a tendency to be a bit scattered, so a couple months back I picked up a heavy-duty, day-by-day planner — you know, the kind with graphs and charts and little inspirational quotes to make sure you’re always being your “most productive self.”

I have a morning ritual where, before jumping into the day’s work, I read the daily quotation and make my to-do list accordingly. It may sound a little cheesy (and maybe it is), but that minute or so of reflection usually sets the tone for my day.

As I’ve been sitting here going through the last week or so’s work, one quotation, from Wednesday, really resonated:

“Nothing is miserable unless you think it so; conversely, every lot is happy to one who is content with it.”

This particular quotation comes from Boethius, an early Roman philosopher best known for writing the Consolation of Philosophy as he was waiting to be executed.

The quotation actually came from that work, so you can rest assured that Boethius, knowing his death was imminent, knew a thing or two about being miserable.

It sounds so simple — if you want to be happy, be happy; if you want to be miserable, be miserable. No big deal, right?

Anyone who’s taken a step out into the real world knows, though, that the universe doesn’t always care if you’re planning to be happy. There are forces out there greater than that, forces like death and grief, jobs and layoffs, televised wars and troubled economies, even things as simple as an unfriendly co-worker or rush hour traffic that can throw you off track, under that proverbial “bus.”

But for Boethius’ words to still be printed 1,500 years later, there must be some truth. You don’t have control over traffic jams or what your boss says as you’re walking into work — but you do have control over how you react.

Obviously, no one can be a perpetual optimist, but I’m a firm believer that the more positive energy you put out, the more comes back to you. Don’t buy it? That’s fine, but I challenge you to try it and prove me wrong.

I've hit several bumps in the road the last couple of months but tried to smile through my tears (and I mean that pretty literally) and have seen most of them turn into lessons or opportunities that will be far more valuable than a pat on the back ever would or could have been.

Take the setbacks and the criticisms and the bad days and make them work to your advantage. It’s your life, after all, and it's the only one you've got. You might surprise yourself with what good things start coming your way.