The Importance Of Being Grateful (Someone Else Always Has It Worse).

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Believe me, I get it. I know all too well about complaining when things in my life aren't going the way I'd like. In fact, I think it is quite rare to encounter a person during these times that we're living in that never complains about the issues in their life on occasion. As with nearly everything in this life that has variance in how little or much something may be, the habit of complaining to others about our problems is another one of those things. We may all complain at times throughout our lives, but some of us do it more than others. Since we all complain at times, the degree as to which we as people complain really doesn't matter as much, and that isn't the primary focus where I'm trying to go this week. While there may be a degree of normality when it comes to complaining, something that most of us forget is a word that is something that we should express on a daily basis; gratitude. For many of us, it seems that whenever we're dealing with various issues in our lives that we often forget the importance of expressing gratitude. Again, I believe this is quite normal, and it is very difficult for most of us to focus on the positive whenever we're facing a dark moment(s) in our minds. By now, I think most of us know and understand that complaining without any action behind it is pretty pointless. Now I'll concede that there are times when we just want to vent to others. However, I do believe there is a fundamental difference between complaining and venting. That may be a topic for another day though. The primary purpose of the topic for this week is to bring light to why it is of importance to express gratitude. There can be many reasons why being grateful is important, but one of the key things that we often forget about whenever we're complaining is that while things may be bad and not going your way in this life, there is someone else out there always has it worse than we do.

Hey, what is going on everyone out there? It is I, Brad H. back once again, and welcome to another fresh off the take edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! We are back in the mix for another installment of information and insight that will hopefully encourage and inspire us to strive to become better versions of ourselves. Hopefully all has been good and well for you all that are taking out a few minutes to check out what my thoughts are. So for my soapbox this week, I'm going to give a little tribute to the "Queen of Soul", Aretha Franklin. I'm sure that most of you know by now that she departed this world on August 16, 2018. Now I'm not going to get on here and portray that I was the biggest fan of hers or anything like that. Quite frankly, a good portion of her music was way before my time. However, I do feel that the music and entertainment industry suffered a huge loss with her passing. I think that most of us can agree that she was among the musical giants that have been a part of American music. One of her most popular songs that mostly everyone has listened, or even if you haven't heard it you have more than likely heard some say the letters; R-E-S-P-E-C-T, to spell "Respect". My personal favorite from her was the 1985 song she had called "Freeway of Love." I remember hearing that song as a kid, and the uptempo pace of it really appealed to me. I recall seeing a few days before her passing that she wasn't doing well, so I hope that her transition from this life was a peaceful one. My condolences go out to her family and everyone who is directly affected by her passing. One of the great things about people that are extremely gifted and talented at a craft is that we can always listen to or watch them even when they're no longer here. She has given this world so much music over her lifetime, so in a way she continues to live on. If you have a favorite song by Aretha Franklin, please feel free to leave that below. Well now that I've talked about that, it is time to go ahead and get into this week's topic of the importance of being grateful.

Before we talk more on the topic at hand for this installment, I'm going to go ahead and give the regular disclaimer that I always give before putting my thoughts out there. Since we're all unique individuals in our own right, it is unrealistic to believe that we're all going to think the same way. The object here isn't to focus on what is considered right or wrong, nor do I want others to cosign with everything that I address here. The objective is to hopefully inspire other people, and through that inspiration, to hopefully allow this to serve as a catalyst that will inspire us to see things in a manner in which we may not have before. I'd like to think of this as an outlet that helps us to learn from one another. Believe me, some of the comments and feedback that I've received have definitely helped open my eyes to things that I never thought of, and I hope that my words are able to do the same for others as well. Of course I don't expect everyone to agree with me, and even if you do not share in my beliefs and sentiments in regards to this or any of the other topics that I have covered, I still appreciate every single person that has dropped by. So how did I arrive at the topic of being grateful for this installment? Well, the practice of gratitude is something that I aim to do on a regular basis. However, like so many of us that manage to allow the issues that pop up in our lives to affect our judgement and how we view things, I do fall short at times. But with that being said, I thought about something that I heard a guy in a Youtube video that I watched several months ago in regards to how regardless of how bad we may have it, there is always someone out there that has it worse than you. This is something that most of us have been taught throughout our lives, but it is often hard to conceive when you're in the midst of a storm in your life. I want to come from this perspective because I believe this perspective will help in putting this topic into its proper context.

If you've been living long enough to have a general understanding of life and how things tend to work, you will likely know by now that life isn't always fair. One of life's harshest realities is the idea that everyone won't always be dealt the same cards, nor will everyone be afforded to have the same opportunities in this life. While there are many aspects of this life that we're all equal and the same, there are also many aspects that exemplify our differences from one another. We have differences in how we think, look, etc; however, we're all the same in the sense that we're all human-beings that have the same 24 hours in a day. We're also similar in the sense that we all will die someday. We're similar to the yin and yang that exudes the balance between two opposites. Now going back to the original point that I'm trying to establish in this section of how we're not all dealt the same circumstances, some people in this life are just gonna have it worse than others. Some people are just born into circumstances that afford them the ability to have a better quality of life, while there are some people whose situations were much worse. Think of the average celebrity that has an abundance of wealth as an example. Most of their kids are likely born into a situation where they're able to attend the best colleges. They're able to do this because their parents likely have the connections and resources to afford them that chance. Now think of a the average person that is either poor, or don't have the kind of wealth that allow them to put their children through college. A person in this situation aiming to rise above this situation will probably be much harder. Now we can agree or disagree as to whether this is fair or not, but the fact of the matter is that everyone's circumstances are different. I wanted to be sure and use this portion of the topic to establish this. I'm not saying this is right or wrong, but it is something that we cannot deny happens in this life.

One of the things that I've brought up on here a countless amount of times is the idea that our judgement is often clouded whenever our mental state is all over the place. It is hard to see the good in this life when you aren't feeling good about yourself right? Isn't it hard to be grateful and appreciative when you feel like you don't have anything to be grateful for? Whether what we may be thinking of ourselves and our situations is a reality or an illusion, these are the things that we often think in the midst of dark times. Now I'll admit that it is never wise to compare ourselves to others. However, what if we took those thoughts of negativity and being unappreciative that we experience and compared them to another person that maybe has things worse than we do? Do you think we would still complain if we looked around and realized that while things aren't what you may want them to be, you are doing much better than you believe you are? From my perspective, I believe that a wise person would take a chill on the complaining and learn to be more grateful. I want you to think of this as an example. Lets say that you are a track athlete and you are competing at the state championship. You go into the event with a lot of confidence, but lets say that you end up losing the race. Naturally you're going to be hurt by this, but if you take the time and think about all the people in this world that are in wheelchairs and won't ever have the opportunity to run in their lives, you'll realize that in the grand scheme of life that your loss doesn't compare. Even in a defeat, you'll likely still be able to run again someday, while the person in the wheelchair will probably never have that experience. Again, we often don't think about these kinds of things at the moment, which is understandable. However, this is one of the reasons why I think it is important for us to try and shift our way of thinking when it comes to life if you find that you struggle with this.

So why is it important to be grateful and express gratitude? Hopefully by this point I've shown enough examples that have helped in getting my perspective across on this. However, besides the obvious fact that being grateful and showing gratitude should innately be in our nature, expressing gratitude is is utmost importance due to the fact that someone else in this world always has it worse than you do. Some of the very things that we often take for granted are also the same things that less fortunate people are wishing to have. Like I mentioned earlier in the post, we aren't all dealt the same hand in this life, and there are going to be certain areas of your life where you may be lacking in comparison to others. However, for the same areas where you may be lacking in where others aren't, someone out there probably wishes they had an area of your life where you're blessed. You are alive if you're reading this right now, which means that you are already doing pretty good. Remember that there is someone out there right this moment that is taking their last breath and likely wishing they had more time in this world to spend with those they love. You may not have 20/20 vision, but there is someone in this world that is blind and may have never had the opportunity to see anything. There may be people talking a lot and annoying you right now, but there is someone out there who is deaf and have never heard how another person's voice sounds. Again, when I take the time to think of things in terms of this, it helps me to realize how important gratitude is. Though I don't want anyone to think that it is good to compare yourself to others, I also believe that getting a point across sometimes requires us to think outside of the box a bit. So I'm challenging myself and others to try and be more grateful. Again I know this isn't always an easy thing to do, but while whatever hand of cards that you're holding now may not be the best, just being alive allows your another chance to play those cards better to improve your life.

Well I think that I've pretty much said and summed up my feelings on this topic. I'm going to go ahead and bring this one to a close, so I would like to thank everyone that came through once again for another edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! I hope that this provided some insight, and I hope that I was able to express myself in a way that many of you can relate to. If you have anything that you want to contribute to this or any of the other topics that have been addressed, please feel free to do so. You can also connect with me on Twitter @BradrickH if you'd like. I just finished watching a preseason football game between my Dallas Cowboys and the Cincinnati Bengals. NFL football is right around the corner folks! Gosh do I love this time of the year, and I'm sure that many of you do as well. Well I hope that you all have a great rest of the weekend, and I wish you an even better week ahead. I'll be checking back in soon, so please stay on the lookout for me. Till then, I wish you all the best, and keep on smiling! Peace!

©2018 Bradrick H. All Rights Reserved.

Can Someone Else Really Know What Is Truly Best For You?

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Throughout your journey of life, how many times have people in some many ways tried telling you what is best for you? Probably more times than you can count right? When it comes to people telling you what they may feel is best for you, most people do it in subtle ways. Nearly every one of us can relate to the feeling of telling another person how you feel about something and being told in response that you shouldn't do that. Something that I pointed out a few times in the most recent topic that I covered was the idea that while most of the times when people try to keep us from doing something that we want to do is often for honorable reasons, there are also some occasions where the discouragement is coming from a more questionable place. Finding that someone with whom's opinion you value isn't quite in line with what you believe can often be a disheartening thing for some people to deal with. In some cases that are more extreme, it can even cause friction that leads to potentially damaging the relationship. I do realize that in certain circumstances that something like this cannot be avoided. However, the perspective that I'm coming from encourages people to be more tolerant of the ideas of others so these kind of often irreversible situations can be avoided. The question as to whether or not another person can truly know what is best for you is one that will have varying opinions. There are certain circumstances where a person may be so emotionally attached to someone or something that they're not able to rationally see things for what they are in that situation. I believe that those type of circumstances probably call for an outside source to intervene in order to put things into perspective for whom it may apply to. However, I want to come from a perspective that most of us can relate to when it comes to the question; can people really know what is truly best for you?

What's going on everybody? This is ya boy Brad H. back once again, so go and tell a friend. I'm just kidding, but I'd like to welcome everyone that came back through to another installment of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'. I am back for another week to give my thoughts on a topic that I feel would be valuable to the lives of others. I also hope that within the context of the topic that I have chosen for the week that it will give us all some wisdom and motivation to keep on moving forward in our lives. I hope that everyone has been doing pretty well since the last post. If that hasn't been your reality as of late, I hope that things will get better and improve for you. So for my soapbox for this week, I'd like to give a few thoughts on how everything in this world has become so politicized. Now politics is something that I choose not to talk about much on here. My reasoning for this comes from the fact that I prefer this blog to be a place of positive thinking and positive vibes. The fact is that controversial topics like religion and politics often create tension and hate. But I wanna say that we as people have to do better when it comes to making everything political. I know and understand that politics plays a big role in our country and our identity. However, not every little thing has to be turned into something political. I think it is pretty sad when things that are supposed to enjoyed have turned so politicized that the the things themselves are no longer the focus. I believe that it says a lot about our nation when people try and bring awareness to something, and are vilified for it. We have to focus more on what people are trying to bring awareness to, and stop trying to make these things about left or right. I get that people only want to talk and not listen, but in order for there to be progress, we have to learn how to listen more. That's pretty much all I wanna say about that, so lets go ahead and transition into this week's topic of whether someone else can truly know what is best for you.

Before getting into the topic that I'm covering for this installment, I'd like to go ahead and give the usual disclaimer that I mention before every topic. We all have different outlooks and views on life. The primary goal with this topic, as well as the others isn't to focus on what we think is right or wrong. The main focus is to offer some insight that will not only help keep us motivated, but to also encourage us to be deeper thinkers when it comes to the various aspects of life. As always, I do not expect everyone to agree with me. However, whatever you may think or feel about my opinions whether it is for good or bad, I do appreciate everyone that takes out a little bit of their time to read up on my thoughts. So how did I arrive at the topic of whether or not others can really know what is truly best for us? This topic came to my mind due to a conversation with my sister last week. I know that it probably feels like I often get ideas for topics to discuss from my sister, but I will admit it is the truth. I think much of it deals with the idea that a good portion of the talks I have with her are deep and thoughtful discussions. That is one of the reasons why she is probably my favorite person to talk with when it comes to life. Anyway, at some point during the talk that we were having, I recall mentioning how people don't always know what is best for you. Not soon after saying that, I thought to myself that this would be something good to address in the next blog post. I don't know about anyone else, but I think it is truly great how an idea can just come to you from some of the things that we deem as being so small. So with that being said, I wanna give thanks to my sister for the talk that helped give birth to this idea in my head. Beyond just that, I think that this is a topic that could possibly expand a bit more upon the topic that I covered in the last post. Hopefully you all have read that post already, but in case that you have not, it is always just below.

One of the many things that I've talked about on here, as well as in my everyday life is the idea that people often project their own life and insecurities onto others. What does it mean when someone does this? Imagine that there is something in your life that you want to do or achieve. It can be or relate to anything, but for the sake of having an example, lets just say that you want to go to a specific college when you graduate from high school. Now lets say that you come from a family that didn't have anyone else that went to college. These chose another path to go with their life that didn't involve academics, but that's not what you want for yourself. Now imagine that upon informing your family on your plans, they tell you that they don't believe that going to college is a good idea. They believe that picking up a trade or doing something that provides a little more stability is the better option compared to spending money to go to college. This is an example of how other people project their own life onto others. How so, you may wonder? The family that doesn't entirely support your decision to want to attend college never went to college, so the idea of taking this route is likely foreign to them. However, just because they don't see or have the same vision that you may have doesn't mean that you are wrong for wanting to go to college. As I touched on in the most recent topic on not holding people back from living their life, the fact that they don't support your decision doesn't mean that they're bad people, nor that it means that they don't want what is best for you. It's just an example of how when a person didn't do or can't see something for themselves, they also think that isn't the direction for you either. This is an example of how people project their own lives onto others. Again, this can be likened to any aspect of life; I just used the college thing as an example. The point is that situations such as this can put you at odds with others, and if you're not mentally strong enough to understand what is going on, you may find yourself being deterred by others.

From my perspective, and I'm sure that many of you will agree with me when I say this, but one of the biggest things in this life to live with is regret. If you have lived a number of years on this Earth regardless of how many years it may be, you have likely had moments where you've looked back at something you either did or didn't do that makes you feel regret. Now how does regret tie in with whether or not another person knows what is best for you? Well as I stated recently, a person that maybe isn't mentally strong enough, or maybe hasn't reached the mental capacity to fully think for themselves can be deterred more easily by other people. If you find yourself in situations where you are have to rely on other people to make decisions for you on how you should live your own life, you'll likely end up having to live with regret in the future. Now again, I want to stress that often times when other people offer their opinions on what you should do within the circumstances that you're dealing with in your life, they're coming from a place of meaning well. I don't wanna make it appear as if I am trying to vilify people that may genuinely care for us. However, the point that I'm trying to get across is that if you happen to just go along with whatever your peers or elders think you should do, you probably won't ruffle too many feathers, and whatever suggestions they have may even work out for you in the end. But keep in mind that not ruffling feathers or just going with the program when the program isn't something that you truly want to do can have consequences for your life. Instead of you doing what you want to do and live on your own terms, you are likely pretending to be someone that you're not. How can a person truly be happy if they're not able to be themselves and do the things they enjoy? This is when regret can settle into a person's life. The fact of the matter is that regardless of how much we may try to avoid stirring the pot a bit when it comes to pleasing others, it is inevitable that we will. It is just impossible to make everyone happy in this life, which is why you have to prioritize your own happiness.

So can someone else truly know what is best for you? From my perspective on this topic, I'd have to say the answer is no. Now there are circumstances where people may care for you and want what is best for you, but there is a difference between wanting what is best for a person and knowing what is best for a person. I think much of our society gets the two confused. Now if I tell someone that I want what is best for them, I'm going from a place of supporting whatever it is they desire. I don't even have to know what that may be, but I'm simply saying that I want you to accomplish whatever your heart desires. However, if I say that I know what is best for you, then I'm basically projecting my own life onto you and saying that what I feel is best for me can also be what is best for you. Now I don't have any hardcore evidence or numbers to back up what I'm about to say, but I think a good number of people are part of the latter of the two. Again, I think that it is coming from a good place most of the time, but we also know that control can play a factor as well. That's a whole other topic for another day, so I'll leave that as is for now. Now if you're a person that feels different than I do when it comes to this topic, that is totally fine, and I'd love to see you leave a comment on why you may feel otherwise. The biggest thing that I'm hoping others can draw from this is that while it is good to seek out counseling and advice from people that we trust, you have to also be the captain on your own ship at times. Because we only get one life to live and no one else can live for us, no other person can truly know what is best for you. We often hear about how many of the answers that we're seeking for our lives are often already inside of us. I personally believe that this is true, but sometimes it takes a little bit of soul searching to find those answers. Always be humble and open the advice of others, but remember that it is called your life, because it's yours to live.

I think that I have said enough for this go round, so I'm going to go ahead and close this one out. Like always, I hope that I was able to express myself in a manner that people can relate to. My name is Bradrick H., and this has been another installment of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! As always, I want to give a big thank you and props to everyone that consistently has stopped by. If you have any comments or feedback to give, please feel free to do so. You can also find me on Twitter @BradrickH. I hope you all enjoy the weekend. Football is right around the corner, so I know all of your sports fan out there are pretty geek'd for that. I know that I am. I wish you all a great week ahead, and I'll see you all in the next installment. Till then, take care of yourselves, and keep moving forward. Peace!

©2018 Bradrick H. All Rights Reserved.