Wanna Improve Your Life? Then DO Something About It!

Meet Tim. He's smart, he's talented, and he's somewhat ambitious. He's also unhappy at his job because he doesn't get the responsibilities that he feels he deserves. He knows he's more than capable to deal with those responsibilities but he continuously gets overlooked by his superiors. He often complains to some of his coworkers about how he would do a better job than Michael and Jimmy, who're doing the job that Tim believes he'd be better at. All he needs is one shot. One chance at showing people what he can do.

Meet Lindsay. She's stuck at a dead-end job because some events in her past prevented her from graduating from college, which led to her having to accept this job just to make ends meet. She's actually pretty smart, and quite capable of a lot more than this shitty job at the local supermarket. She's mad, frustrated and generally unhappy because she thinks life handed her a raw deal. She makes sure she shows up for work every day and makes sure she doesn't get in any trouble. When she gets home, she watches TV or she hangs out with friends. She secretly envies some of those friends who're gradually moving up in life while she isn't.

Meet Christopher. He works for a company that sells heating equipment. He's pretty happy with his job, but he feels he's capable of more. He recently enrolled in a program where he can study software development at home, in his own time, and he just needs to take (and pass, obviously) the exams on the dates that will be assigned to him. He's not even sure whether or not he'd actually go out and get a software development job once he's done with his education, but he's glad that he took the step to learn something new.

There are a lot of Tims and Lindsays: people who are unhappy with something in their life, and do nothing but complain about it. There's nothing inherently wrong with complaining. Everybody does that from time to time. But you can't expect people to feel sorry for you if you don't actually put in any effort to improve the situation that's making you unhappy. Tim needs to quit complaining to his coworkers and he needs to put in some effort to convince his superiors that he's capable of dealing with the responsibilities he's asking for. Lindsay needs to cut down on the TV hours and needs to spend some time actually looking for a better job, or even better, go to night school so she can go find a job in something that interests her.

To a large extent, you make your own luck in life. Life can always deal you a bad hand, but what you do with that hand is entirely up to you. Sometimes, people lose even though they were holding a royal flush. Sometimes, people win with a pair of 9's. Sometimes, you can win without having to show your hand. It all depends on how you play and read the game. Sure, you can't lose if you don't play. But you won't win either. Obviously, you can't control Really Bad Luck (like disabilities, diseases, mental illness, accidents, etc...) but in the large majority of cases, you can improve the situation you're in if you're just willing to put in the effort to make that happen.

Wanna become really good at something you like doing? Work hard, hone your skills and be patient. It's not gonna happen overnight, but if you keep at it, you will have put yourself in a much, much better position to reach your goals. Want more responsibilities at work? Then don't sit around waiting for an opportunity to fall in your lap. Opportunities often just fly by, and you just need to grab them while they're in front of you. And if there really aren't any opportunities, either create them yourself or go someplace else. Wanna get a job in a different field? Then make sure you're capable of doing that job and educate yourself. Yes, even if it means having to do that on your own time. It's that simple. If you want change, you are the one who needs to make that happen because nobody else is going to do it for you.

Christoper is putting in some effort which may or may not lead to a big change in his life. If he 'fails' in his studies, it's still a win in my book because at least he tried. And if he 'fails', he's gonna end up trying something else. And sooner or later, he's going to enable the change he wants in his life on his own, without any complaining. And since i know all 3 of these people in real life (though they have different names), i can state that Christopher is not only happier than Tim and Lindsay are right now, and i'm quite sure that he'll be happier than Tim and Lindsay in the long run (provided that he doesn't get a dose of Really Bad Luck). Simply because he's willing to actually DO something about the things that he's not happy with.