It is not the world’s job to conform to you and the way you need things to be.
It is not the world’s job to cater to you because you “don’t learn that way” or you “aren’t very good at this” or you “don’t feel like doing it”. You either rise to the occasion, or you fall on your face.
Success in the world is about learning to adapt, evolve, and push yourself farther than others are willing to in order to get where you want to go. Despite what the world has come to have one believe these days, success isn’t everyone’s right. It isn’t your right to be happy, it isn’t your right to be wealthy, it isn’t your right to be comfortable, healthy, or feel good about yourself. Respect, loyalty, kindness, and compassion aren’t your rights either. Your only right is the OPPORTUNITY to have those things…. everything else is yours to get up off of your ass and get for yourself.
You have to be willing to learn the rules of life, much like the rules of a game. Once you learn those rules and learn them well, you can adapt your skills in order to play that game to the best of your ability. Then, as soon as you are playing pretty well and have adapted your skills, you can either stay put at “comfortable” or you can push yourself to the next level where few are willing to go. One thing you can’t do though, is hope, pray, wish, plead, and beg for the life of your dreams to fall in your lap. You can’t expect people to bow and scrape and care about your needs without you tending to theirs. You can’t expect your boss to give you a raise or a promotion without you earning it. You can’t shit on your relationships with partners and friends, expect them to keep quiet about their unhappiness, then still be there when you need or want them to be. You can’t eat junk food constantly and medicate yourself for every little discomfort while not exercising or getting proper sleep, and still expect your body to perform for you at its peak. You can’t expect to find your dream job without holding yourself to the standards that one would need for that position and doing whatever is necessary to have it. You can’t expect people to make you happy without doing anything to make yourself happy, and you can’t expect to criticise others without having a critical eye fall on your actions in return.
You just can’t. No matter how much you want to.
Treat others with kindness and care, and within a margin of error, you’ll receive the same in return. Work hard to get where you want to go. If you’re not good enough, make yourself better. Embrace a good measure of humility, and in return you will get wisdom and knowledge. Take care of your body, and it will take care of you. No, life is not perfect, and no, life is not fair. But you’re sure not going to get any closer to it being the life you want by talking about it, complaining about it, dreaming about it, or doing everything but the necessary actions to get you there. So instead of wasting time lamenting about how things “should” be… learn how they ARE, adapt the skills needed to deal with that reality, and exceed expectations in every way possible.
“Winners do what losers won’t.”
Make it happen.*
