A reader compliments Matt’s attitude of self-sufficiency, personal responsibility, and glass-half-full optimism.

Matt responds:

The old saying, “Look what they’ve done to me!” is a cop-out.

Very little can be done to us, outside of physical acts.

If someone says something that hurts us, maybe they’re out of line, or maybe it’s a hidden criticism that might be true.  Why should we be hurt by the truth?

We live and die by ourselves—but in many cases people try to be prescriptive of how other people should live.  People want to clone themselves, so they bother everyone with their rantings and ravings like I do here on the Blog!

But it’s not going to make or break my day if people don’t agree with me.

That, then, is something that many people shun:  being responsible for their own actions.  “Look what you’ve done to me!” is their rallying cry.

The only person can do anything to me is me.  I’m talking about the spiritual, intelligent perception of me.

Nobody is perfect.  Are we all right, or are we all wrong?

Being comfortable with yourself really is doing the best you can.  If that makes other people unhappy or makes them think you’re unfinished, then so be it.

It really comes down to being happy with who and what you are, and that can only be accomplished if you’re really and truly trying to do it.

That’s why, when somebody has a failure, I tell them to read Harry Truman’s biography.  He had so many failures but he ended up being one of the great Presidents of the United States.

Success and failure are in many cases in the eye of the beholder.  It’s more about how you personally assess yourself.

When we were kids, they always thought it was a good test of success if the pencil ran out before the eraser.

All we can do is be at it, have fun, laugh a lot, and if there’s nothing to laugh about, make something up!

Matt

P.S.:  You really don’t have to live in the real world.  Take it from someone who lives in another world when I get sick of reality!