Stop Wishing Things Were Better

I grew up in Fresno California, and my family still lives there. Over the past 8 years, I’ve driven between Fresno and LA countless times. The dairy industry thrives in the regions surrounding Fresno, so it always smells like cow manure. If you don’t know, cow manure smells bad.

I’ve learned a trick that instantly helps with the smell.

My trick? I take a very deep breath in through the nostrils. Nice and slow. It smells awful while I’m doing it, but every normal breath after that isn’t bad at all. Its almost as if my sense of smell will recalibrate to the scent that’s in the air. 

I’ve found this idea to be true when I’m out in the cold without a jacket. If I hunker down, wishing it was warmer, I feel even colder. But if I take a few deep breaths and accept that it’s cold, somehow, I feel less cold. 

Wishing things were better is often much worse than accepting that things are bad. When we can accept the bad in life, we can recalibrate ourselves to deal with it. When we have more information, we can develop better plans. Denial might be decent short-term strategy to make things not feel so bad, but it withholds the insights we need to make a good plan to move forward. 

Nothing smells worse, or feels as cold as entitlement. We aren’t owed anything in this life. If things are bad, accept it. Breathe in the stench. Then come up with a plan to move forward. 

Good luck out there.