Micro opportunities

We are presented with dozens of micro opportunities to achieve greatness every day.

These can often feel like meaningless decisions that would have no impact on our life or future.

An extra smile at a stranger. A thank you to your neighbor. Picking up your trash. Being patient with someone misunderstanding you. Being understanding of someone else’s pain. Putting in a little more effort into your work. Not taking your stress out on your partner. Letting your partner be stressed.

It’s certainly healthy to be in tune with your emotions.

It is also healthy to not allow those emotions to dictate your actions. Because ACTION creates its own emotion.

If I take a breath when I’m frustrated, and despite that frustration I set my mind to accomplish the original goal, I’ve manifested pride. That pride breeds confidence. That confidence breeds calm against adversity in the future.

If I smile at a neighbor when I don’t necessarily feel like it, and they smile back, I’ve manifested connection. Connection breeds community. Community breeds safety. Safety breeds calm.

If I put a little more effort into my work, I build a reputation for excellence and reliability. This breeds opportunity. Multiple opportunities create demand. Demand commands financial bounty.

Life doesn’t always play fair. But the longer I live the more I realize how responsible we are for a significant amount of our own suffering.

This isn’t to say the external world has no impact on the burden we bare. But it is to say that better decisions and temperament will always lighten the load.

This to me is the warrior mindset. I am not at war with you.

I am at war with myself, and I will be victorious.