Here’s How You Know You’re Winning at Life (Even If You’re Sure You’re Not)
You’re better at this whole life thing than you think you are — guaranteed.
Unless they’re wildly successful beyond all definition, most people don’t think of themselves as world-class winners at the game of life. Even people with millions of dollars to their name and everything a person is “supposed to” want in life can feel that way, so it’s only natural for the rest of us to wonder whether we’ve any right to feel proud of what we’ve accomplished so far.
Yes, it’s essential to count one’s blessings and be grateful if you have the basics in life — food in your fridge, clean water to drink, clothes on your back, and a roof over your head. There’s nothing wrong with wanting more out of life than simple survival, though.
It’s human nature to desire a greater purpose and to want the things you do to count for something, but it’s not always easy to know whether you’re on the right track. If you can honestly say any of the following statements are true of you, you’re not just doing better than you think you are. You’re killing it and moving in the right direction.
You’re a different person than you were a few years ago.
I’m the sort of person who looks back on their life and sees a hundred different past identities, lying in a pile behind me like discarded lizard skins. I used to think this meant something was wrong with me. Then I realized something important. All those lizard skins were proof that I was changing, growing, and outgrowing things that no longer served me.
If you can look back on your life and identify ways you’ve changed over the years, you’re doing something right. This goes double if you can also say you’re actively building on the ways you’ve changed for the better, as well as working on the ways you may have changed for the worse. People aren’t meant to stay exactly the same their whole lives through. Honor the people you used to be, but be willing to let them go. It’s all part of the process.
