In communities across Canada, hourly Amazon employees can grow their skills and their paycheck by enrolling in free skills training programs for in-demand fields. Learn more at aboutamazon.ca. This is Optimal Living Daily, episode 2003, What to Do About Those People Who Sidetracked Your Life, by Chris Guillebeau of chrisguillebeau.com. And I'm just a small, your very own personal narrator today and every day.
This is a relatively short podcast, usually fewer than 10 minutes, where I read one article to you from the best blogs on the planet, with permission from the authors. And on that note, let's get this short, get right to today's post, and start optimizing your life. What to Do About Those People Who Sidetracked Your Life, by chrisguillebeau of chrisguillebeau.com. This article doesn't have much to do with travel hacking or unconventional work.
And in fact, it will only apply to a minority of the people who hear it. If you've always had a great life and nothing truly unfair has ever happened to you, feel free to skip this one. There's lots of other great reading out there elsewhere. But for the rest of you, this one goes out to everyone who has had terrible things happen to them that weren't their fault.
I listed examples here that I thought fit the subject, but then I took out the list because who am I to judge what is terrible and what is just bad? In the end, only a person who has been victimized, abused, or otherwise harmed knows the degree to which they have been hurt. So there are no examples, but if the shoe fits, you know what to do. Good people, bad things, what's up with that?
It seems that bad things and good people tend to go hand in hand, and when the two meet up, we actually of them arrive at the same conclusion. We don't know why. But the fact is that all too often, the weak enjoy a show of force over the strong. It gives them a sense of power that they are unable to achieve through legitimate means.
After becoming sidetracked from being hurt, some people fail to recover. They end up emotionally or spiritually paralyzed, unable to get beyond the hurt they feel, even after a long amount of time. I don't believe there's a 12-step program to fix this problem. If something like that works for you, great, but if not, here are a few other ideas.
Number one, don't be bitter, be neutral. What happened wasn't okay, but bitterness will end up hurting you even more. Number two, reevaluate your life. Recovery is always a good time to look at what you're doing and determine if you're finding fulfillment through it.
Did something teach you that life is short? You're a survivor for a reason, so make it count. Number three, do the things you were told you couldn't do. If someone said you would never amount to anything, don't prove them wrong.
Don't do it for their attention and don't expect them to acknowledge it later. Do it for yourself. Number four, prove yourself wrong. Most people who have been sidetracked have allowed low expectations from someone else to come into their own life somewhere.
You don't need to prove anything to someone else, but prove yourself wrong and learn to set higher expectations. Number five, refuse to believe that you'll never be truly okay. Why can't you fully recover? Maybe you can, maybe you can't, but don't rule it out right from the start with the belief that you'll always be a victim.
My favorite poem is Ithaca by Constantine Kevapi. I love it because the theme is pretty much life, work, and travel. That guy was ahead of his time. You can read the whole poem if you'd like, but here's the introduction.
Quote, when you start on your journey to Ithaca, then pray that the road is long, full of adventure, full of knowledge. Do not fear the Lestragonians and the Cyclops and the Angry Poseidon. You'll never meet such as these on your path if your thoughts remain lofty, if a fine emotion touches your body and your spirit. You'll never meet the Lestragonians, the Cyclops and the Fierce Poseidon if you not carry them within your soul, if your soul does not raise them up before you.
End quote. It's time to say goodbye. The Lestragonians, the Cyclops, the Angry Poseidon, and those people who sidetrack your life. The way you avoid them or at least get past them is to refuse to carry them with you.
That's why you will ultimately win as long as you can let go of the people who will ultimately lose. What you do with those people is really not that important. What's more important is to figure out what to do with yourself, how you'll change the world in spite of what happened. You'll know you've accomplished this when those people become irrelevant in your mind.
You don't hate them, you don't love them, you just don't care. Maybe you even feel a little sorry for them. In the end, you win because you've shown yourself to be stronger. Often the people who have been hurt the most are the ones who go on to true greatness.
They've seen the other side and they'll do anything to make something better for themselves and those around them. The best news some of these people can hear is, you don't have to be afraid anymore. What a crazy idea. Oh, and this is good too.
Quote, I can be changed by what happened to me, but I refuse to be reduced to it. Maya Angelou. You just listened to the post titled, What to do about those people who sidetracked your life by Chris Guillebeau of chrisguillebeau.com. Thank you for being here and listening on the weekend if you're listening in real time of course.
Have a great rest of your day and I'll see you tomorrow as usual where your optimal life awaits.