Hey Moguls, Preston Ely here…
With the cooler weather upon us and the holiday season getting ready to kick off in a bit, I got to thinking about something…
I remember a couple years ago when I was in a particularly bad mood. It happens once every couple of years or so.
So I’m in this bad mood. Just feeling very… disturbed. Thinking about the holidays, I decided to go get my shopping over and done with.
I drove 95 miles an hour the whole way to the mall. Cut people off. Ran red lights. Normal stuff you do when you’re driving while in a bi-annual bad mood. In my case, driving while angry (DWA) is about 19 times more dangerous for the society at large than driving while intoxicated.
And stop judging me by the way. I have my weaknesses – you have yours. I just tell everyone mine is all. I’m NOT SCARED like that.
So I finally arrive alive at the mall. I love the mall. So many glittery treats and sparkly new things that make me happy – for at least 3 minutes after I buy them. I love it. And the mall most definitely likes me. Ask it.
Shopping commences.
As I started finding different things for my family that I knew would make them happy, I began to notice a subtle shift in my mood.
It got good.
I bought tons of stuff for other people and nothing for me. By the time I was done shopping, my bad mood was gone, and I was officially happy.
Why?
Because I stopped thinking about myself and my problems, and I started thinking about other people and what I could do to make them happy.
Put others first. Period.
When our minds are consumed with ourselves, we are completely miserable. It’s simply not how life was intended to be lived. It’s a recipe for dysfunction.
Aren’t you tired of being dysfunctional? I know I am. Even more profound – aren’t you tired of lying to yourself and others by pretending you’re not? You’re not okay. Stop kidding yourself. I’m not okay. Something is drastically wrong with the world. Can’t you just feel it?
I sure can. It’s full of a bunch of flat-out FAKERS who put on a good show, but in reality they are rotting away inside. Confident on the outside – freaked out on the inside.
There is something going on inside of you that scares the ever living crap out of you and you know it. You don’t know what it is, and you don’t know what to do about it. Up until now you’ve simply been ignoring it and covering it up with sports, liquor, sex and nonsense.
The problem is YOU. You’re a slave to yourself. You can’t stop thinking about yourself. The thought of you consumes you – day and night. Other people don’t really matter. You say they do. But they don’t when it comes right down to it. It matters what they can DO for you.
Other people’s pain makes me literally weep. For reals.
My eyes are tearing up right this very second as I type this while thinking about a friend of mine who lost her sister to cancer.
Can you relate?
When all we think about is ourselves, our tendency is to be irritable, angry and depressed. Our performance suffers. Our relationships suffer. Other people suffer because we are not emotionally available for them.
The world becomes a worse place in general.
What you need is deliverance from yourself. You are your worst enemy. Yet, common thought tells you to cater to it. That’s hilarious.
There is only one place to turn for this deliverance. You can’t do it yourself. You are a corrupt idiot, remember? Don’t feel bad. I am too.
I personally think that deliverance lies wrapped in a swaddling clot at a manger in Bethlehem over 2,000 years ago. Wouldn’t it be crazy if He were actually standing right next to you as you read this? Right this very moment? And you didn’t even realize it?
Well He is. And He loves you so very much that you would literally fall to your knees and cry like a baby if you knew.
The reason for the (upcoming) season is thinking of others. Making others happy. Helping others. Not yourself.
Speak up.
Can you relate to this story? Share below.
Put others first.
Get out of being in a bad, depressed mood by helping others and making them happy.
Stop thinking only of yourself.
Be kind, thoughtful and selfless.
Preston Ely
is a real estate investor, serial entrepreneur, life coach, musician and philanthropist. CEO of Real Freedom, Inc, one of the most influential internet-based information publishers in the world, owns the largest Anytime Fitness Gym in the United States, is recording a music album with Atlantic Records, sits on the board of Advocates Of Love Orphanage, and has a non-profit charity assisting the poor and oppressed in Cuba with both their physical and spiritual needs.
With over 200,000 subscribers to his email newsletter, he is rapidly fulfilling his mission on earth, which is to glorify God by setting people physically, mentally, financially, and spiritually free through his music and his message of FREEDOM. Preston is 37 years old, lives in Tampa, FL with his wife Ashley, where he spends most of his time reading, writing, and practicing mixed martial arts.