Control is a killer of our freedom, of our happiness, don't let it kill yours.

Human beings love control, they love to be superior, because in reality that is their nature. There is nothing living that transmits more control on anything than a human does upon themselves and everything else they encounter, well at least they do their best at trying to.

We try to control everything.

Our weight, our daily routines, our appearances, our work, our personal encounters, our entire lives. But what happens when one small thing doesn't go your way? You gain 2 lbs instead of losing 5 lbs? You wake up 20 minutes late or there's 30 minutes of traffic on the highway ahead? Your dog runs into your neighbors yard and you have to talk to the neighbor you dread most? What do you do?

Think about this.

Your mindset when these things occur decides everything, and I believe that the best mindset to have is one that believes that everything happens for a reason.

Why, you ask?

Because, if you continuously believe that everything happens for a reason, then the control is taken out of your hands and so is the blame. It allows you to consider the factor of hope and the promises found in the failures and the disappointments.

Maybe those 5 lbs that you gained make you look healthier and the fact that you woke up 20 minutes late may have saved you from a fatal car crash on your way to work and chasing after your dog into your neighbors yard just to see your neighbor playing with him/her makes you realize that 'hey they aren't half that bad' - these events, which could have been deemed god awful, have shed a new light on certain things. They have made you realize the beauty in the phrase 'everything happens for a reason'.

The small spurts of hope are what provide us with happiness when living in a world similar to groundhog day. Without the hope and without the positive mindset, life would be miserable, so don't let it be. Find the sliver of hope and find the one positive thing among the thousand negatives.

Start by realizing that it's okay to celebrate the small things just as much as you celebrate the big ones. Allow them to bring you joy because I promise the small joys come more frequently than the big ones. So celebrate them and appreciate them just as much as you celebrate job promotions, an engagement, a child being born, etc. because if we just celebrate those big momentous moments, then what is the rest of our lives filled with? Disappointment, and the last time I checked no one wanted to live a life full of disappointments.

The small things are everywhere.

It's seeing the old man on the street corner buying flowers to take home to his beloved of 60 years, it's seeing a flower protruding in the middle of the sidewalk in Manhattan, it's witnessing an act of kindness, it's participating in an act of kindness, it's hearing someone say 'thank you' as you hold the door for them and giving you a smile, it's a child's giggle and it's the look of love and exhaustion on the mothers face as she watches. It's truly the smallest moments that create a lifetime of happiness, so embrace them, recognize them, and love them. I promise your life will be that much better once you do.

Smell the roses. Smile at a stranger. Compliment a stranger. Take a day off for sitting in the window sill and drinking hot coffee. Call your mom. Send a handwritten letter.

Be simple. Find simple. Love simplicity.

It may be cliche, but life really is what you make it, and in order to make it an extraordinary one, you need to carry yourself in a more positive light.

Try it. Maybe just for one day, not letting the small irrelevant "uh ohs" get to you.

I promise it will change your outlook on life.