Don't give your life away

Life's going to throw so much stuff at you. And the truth is, that the question is not whether we'll have to face problems or not. The question is, what are we going to do when does problems show up? How are we going to respond to those issues? Who will we become in the presence of them?

The more you look at problems as negative things that shouldn't happen, the more frustrated you'll be. Because you keep expecting life to be perfect, and days to go by smoothly, and day after day, you end up feeling drained and disappointed.

You can live smoothly

The good news is that you can, indeed, live smoothly. You can, indeed, enjoy your life. You can, indeed, love your journey, even if problems keep showing up. And you know how? By stopping to look at problems as things that shouldn't happen.

See. The universe is wise. It knows that you can handle this. You truly can. There's no one better than you, to deal with the things that's been presented to you. I know it sounds scary, and that now you're probably thinking ''but it's too much. I don't want to deal with all of this''. But my dear, just thinking that you don't want to, is not making anything go away, and that's the truth.

Get rid of the pain and suffering

Now let me tell you what you can do to face that thing that you're going through, without so much pain and suffering.

For every situation that you go through, demand something in return. And when I say this, I don't mean that you should demand something in return from the people around you. No. What I'm talking about, is demanding something to the Universe, to God, to Jesus, to mother nature, to whichever greater force you believe in. Demand. Ask. And more importantly: expect.

Know that when you demand, you will receive something back. Now, you may be wondering: so what exactly should I demand? Well, demand for something that will make you greater. Demand for something that will make you stronger, smarter, more interesting, more loving, more thoughtful, more careful, more blissful. Demand to learn. Demand to be taught.

Always ask for something in return

Don't you ever go through something, and give away your life without getting anything in return. And I know that this might sound controversial, since we've heard so much that if you're a good person you should be able to give without expecting to get anything in return. I understand this, and I agree with it, depending on the context.

Let me explain. I agree that you shouldn't give to other people with the hidden intention of getting something in return, without even saying it. So basically, I'll summarise what I mean, with 3 simple cases:

• If you're doing something, specifically to get something in return, be clear and honest about it. For example, if you work a 9-5 job, you don't show up everyday for 8 hours for nothing. You expect to get paid, and the company that you work for knows this. If they object to pay you, you simply won't work anymore, right? Unless you have some kind of agreement, and you're getting something else in return, like the opportunity to learn certain skills or gain experience. But in any case, everything should be very clear.

• If you're doing something for someone, who didn't ask you for that thing, know that you're on your own. Be clear and honest with yourself about the fact that you're doing that one thing, because you're choosing to. And even if the reason why you're doing it, is to not seem arrogant, selfish or careless, know that right there, you have your reason: to protect your reputation and the way in which someone else sees you. If that's important to you, and that's the motivation for you to do certain things, know that that's your choice.

• This 3rd case is the one that I want to emphasise on. If you're doing something because you have to, meaning, because you don't think you have another choice in this moment, and that thing brings you pain, ask the Universe to give you something that you can use to grow. For example. Let's say you feel stuck in a job that you don't like, because either you don't like the tasks that you're asked to perform, or you don't like your boss, or you don't share any values with the company that you work for. The truth is, that you can't change the circumstances around you on your own, in the blink of an eye. Maybe you can change some things over the course of time and with enough support. But in order to do that, you'll need to cultivate the right attitude. And often when we're in pain and feel frustrated, we struggle to create the best attitude. And this is when you need to ask the Universe to give you something.

Asking the Universe for help allows you to always gain something from whatever you're going through. That's why, I repeat: never go through anything in life, without getting something. And by this, I mean learning something or growing in some way.

Don't let anyone waste your time and energy

If you feel like other people are wasting your time and energy, ask the Universe for help to recover that time and energy in a different way. Ask to see what no one else is able to see. Ask to grow in the way in which no one else seems to be able to grow, because they're too blind with negativity.

I'm serious. Never ever, give your life away. Don't let people waste your precious time and energy. Look up, take a deep breath, and ask the Universe to give back to you in some way, everything that you're putting into the world.