“Why try? It won’t change anything?”
This is such a heart wrenching statement, because if you live long enough, you will probably feel this way at some point.
Hopeless, defeated, done.
But let’s peel back the onion just a bit. When do we normally say this or feel this way? It is almost always when we are desperately wanting someone ELSE to change. We are putting the responsibility for OUR happiness on someone else. And if they don’t do what we think they should do; we throw our hands up in despair. We have been let down again.
Do you know who is responsible for my happiness? Me! Do you know who is responsible for your happiness? You guessed it – you! And happiness is basically a big fat life anyway. Life is equal parts amazing and awful and mostly averages out in the end. If we think we are failing because we are not happy all the time or life is not wonderful all the time, we could not be more wrong. That’s just called being human.
Back to the original question, “Why try? It won’t change anything.” When we try, WE are changed and that’s the why. We may never achieve what we set out to do or get what we want. But along the way, if we stop expecting change from without and instead, look for change from within, the WHY will be revealed. And if we allow hope without expectation to reside within us, the WAY will be revealed as well.
“Hope is like a road in the country; there was never a road, but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence.”
Lin Yutang
Affirmations
- Hope: Hope is always possible and available for me.
- Effort: My future is worth my efforts.
- Change: As I change my thoughts, my life also changes.
- Happiness: I look within and I find happiness and purpose.