So, what am I going to do about it? My life circumstances are hardly ideal. I could say as much on any given day of my life with only varied degrees of euphemistic undertones. Getting kicked out of my own home – high degree. Needing to side-step dog poop on the stairs out of my condo in the city – low degree. Bluntly put, life circumstances are rarely, if ever, ideal. If you’re looking for something to complain about, you don’t have to look very far. Now that I’ve stated the obvious, it’s time for me to choose. I can freak out. I can shut down. Those are pretty much my old standard operating procedures. However, I can also choose to change my mental state by expressing what I’m grateful for and doing something that brings me joy. Shutting down is so much more comfortable and freaking out is way more familiar. It hurts to push myself to take a different path. It’s easy to wish that I could be happy right now; it’s hard to actually do something about it.