Should

Constant reminder: Stop thinking about what life "should be" and appreciate and celebrate what life is.
James Arthur Ray

"Should" should be a dirty word. I always want to say "Why should I?" Who is setting the standards of what my life should be like here? Should implies that whatever my life is like now is not good enough; that it is being compared to some other situation or way of life and found wanting. It often implies that someone else has a better idea of what my life should be like than I do; that their way is better.

Stop thinking about what life "should" be. Yes it is important to have goals but that is a different thing. That is what you want and expect your life to be like in the future. But should is about the present. You can change the future but you can not change the present, and neither do you want to. Whatever is going on in your life right now is there for a reason, to help you learn and grow to reach towards a your potential.

In reality life should be nothing other than what it is. It is, right now, with all its current problems and challenges, an opportunity to improve, to move forward. We must appreciate it for what it is before we can hope to create a better future. We can after all only deal with what is actually happening around us right now. It is a waste of time to wish that things were different. They are not. We must work with what we've got. We must appreciate and celebrate what life is; an opportunity for our continual growth and improvement