The goal is to thrive.
The definition of surviving, according to Merriam-Webster, is remaining alive, continuing to exist. You’re just going through the motions, accepting whatever hand is dealt. You’re just trying to make it. Might find yourself saying and agreeing with phrases such as:
- Life is a bitch, then you die.
- Work hard and play later.
- I can sleep when I die.
- Trust no one.
But when you’re thriving, you’re living. Thriving is growing, gaining, and progressing. When life gives you lemons, you don’t just make lemonade; you juice it, use the peel to make a skin tonic, deodorize the garbage disposal, and plant the seeds to sell the fruit. You work it. Then you turn around and show life some gratitude for giving you the lemons in the first place.
Thriving is understanding that life isn’t a bitch. Instead, it’s what you make it. It’s learning, loving, laughing, and living! It’s charging your value. Loving those who love all of you. Creating and expressing as authentically as a fully dressed po-boy down on Tchoupitoulas.
By mere surviving, you’re settling. You’re accepting the bare minimum. You’re on a job that you despise. You’re in a relationship that requires you to be more of an investigator than a lover. You’re maintaining friendships that you’ve outgrown. Accepting payments that are barely paying your bills.
Surviving is tiring.
What area of your life are you simply surviving in? Since I know that you’re not okay with keeping this up forever, how do you plan to transition out of surviving and into thriving?