PEP Talk
Transform Your Life with Three Simple Steps: Perceive, Embrace, and Plan Your Way to Success and Happiness
Would you like to have success, less stress, and more happiness in your life? You can have all of these things for free by doing something as simple as changing your attitude. By the end of this article, you will (hopefully) be inspired to change your outlook on life. You just need to remember one word: PEP.
“Pep” means high energy, but in this case, each letter represents simple actions you can take to achieve all of this.
P = Perceive the Best in Everything
It’s all about perception. You may see a half-empty water bottle, while someone else sees it as half-full. Since people remember concepts better through stories, here’s one to illustrate the point.
A rich man wanted to show his young son how poor people lived. They spent a weekend at the farm of a very poor family. When they returned home, the father asked his son, “Did you see how poor people can be?”
The son replied, “Yes. I saw that we have a pool that reaches to the middle of the backyard, and they have a creek that has no end. We have lamps in the garden, and they have the stars. Our patio stretches to the front yard, and they have the entire countryside.”
When the boy’s father heard this, he was speechless. His son added, “Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are!”
Isn’t it true that everything depends on how you look at it?
E = Embrace Your Imperfections
It’s our flaws that make each of us unique. Here’s one of my favorite stories about imperfections.
A water bearer had two large pots that he hung on each end of a pole, which he carried across his shoulders. One of the pots had a crack in it, while the other pot was perfect. The cracked pot was ashamed of its imperfection, so one day it said to the water bearer, “I am useless. I can only deliver half my load because this crack causes water to leak out all the way back to the house.”
The water bearer told the cracked pot to look at the flowers along the path on the way back. When they returned home, he said to the pot, “Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side? That’s because I have always known about your flaw. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day as we walked back from the stream, you watered them. Without you being just the way you are, we would not see these beautiful flowers before us.”
We are all cracked pots, so don’t be afraid of your flaws. Know that in our weakness, we often find our strength.
P = Plan to Have a Positive Attitude
Having a positive attitude can save your life. Still skeptical? Then read this story about an amazing person named Jerry.
Jerry was a restaurant manager who always had a positive attitude. Each morning when he woke up, he would say to himself, “Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood, or you can choose to be in a bad mood. Each time something bad happens, you can choose to be a victim, or you can choose to learn from it.”
One day, Jerry’s restaurant was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers. The robbers shot him, and he was rushed to the hospital. When he saw the expressions on the doctors’ faces, he became frightened. In their eyes, he was already a dead man. Jerry knew he had two choices: he could choose to live, or he could choose to die.
A nurse was shouting questions at him and asked if he was allergic to anything.
“Yes,” he replied.
The doctors and nurses immediately stopped what they were doing as they waited anxiously for his answer. Jerry took a deep breath and yelled, “Bullets!”
Over their laughter, he told them, “I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.”
Jerry lived — thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude.
Every day, we have the choice to live fully. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how others affect your mood. It’s your choice how you live your life.
There you have it — three simple steps to success, less stress, and more happiness:
- Perceive the Best in Everything
- Embrace Your Imperfections
- Plan to Have a Positive Attitude
It all begins with PEP.
