Prep For The Worst When Times Are Good
Nobody wants a downer when the times are good. When you’re achieving, you wouldn’t want to think about failing. When you’re madly in love, you wouldn’t want to think about the fighting. When you have friends, you wouldn’t want to think about loneliness. That’s why most people react to situations instead of responding to them.
And here’s another thing. It’s hard to recognize good times. Most days are just routine.
It was just any old boring day. You got to work, you made small talks, you did some work and went for lunch. You fought through the food coma, did more work, downed some coffee. Before you knew it, the day had ended and you headed home.
Doesn’t sound t0o amazing. But here’s what you have on a day that seems to give you no reason to celebrate.
- You have a job (whether you like it or not is another story)
- You have people to talk to (you don’t work in long-term solitary)
- You can eat or drink whenever you want (think about jobs that don’t allow this freedom)
- You have a home to go back to
All these may seem so natural to have, but you could also lose it all in an instant. For someone that had seemingly lost everything all at once, I would know it.
Within a span of five months, I lost a bunch of friends, a relationship, financial stability (quit my job to go freelance), and even my health at one point (immobilized for a full month from a sprained back and kidney infection). But even then, I knew life could get worst if it wants to.
So after regaining all that I lost, I have a whole new appreciation for things that are often overlooked. But beyond that, I’ve learnt that the best time to prepare for the worst is in the good times. These are the things I say to myself when good stuff are happening:
I have friends now, but it won’t be forever. Leave behind a feeling that you want them to remember, because…
“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” — Maya Angelou
A relationship brings a lot of happiness, but joy should come from being by myself. What’s something I enjoy doing alone?
I may not earn as much as I like, but I’m doing work that gets me out of bed every morning. I have won half the battle.
Remember when you were bedridden and wishing you could just get out for a run? Now you have the choice. Run as much as you can before you lose it again.
When tough times come, it’s almost always worse than we imagined. But if you could even preempt half the things that may happen, the effects wouldn’t blow you out of the water.
While I’m sharing this, I’m learning to be better at it myself. So keep going and know that at least one other person is with you on this journey.
