“The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.”

?E.E. Cummings

Life is to be enjoyed and appreciated, not endured and tolerated. Which is why today is a perfect day to stop tolerating…

1. People who are purposely difficult.

Don’t let anyone’s negativity stop you from being happy. Negative company will never give you a positive life. Examine what you tolerate. Every time you subtract negative from your life, you make room for more positive. Happiness is found around encouraging, loving people.

Learning to ignore certain people is one of the great paths to inner peace. Life gets easier when you delete those who make it difficult.

2. Your attempts to live up to the expectations of others.

Remember, you can’t base your idea of success and happiness on other people’s opinions. We’re not here to live up to each other’s expectations; we’re here to follow our own intuition and do our best. When you clear out other people’s expectations, or the classic things you are “supposed” to want, you create the time needed to take steps towards your true destiny.

Bruce Lee once said, “I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you’re not in this world to live up to mine.” Let this be your motto from this day forward. (Angel and I discuss this in more detail in the “Self-Love” chapter of 1,000 Little Things Happy, Successful People Do Differently.)

3. Your own needless negativity.

Stop focusing on how stressed you are and remember how blessed you are. Complaining won’t change the outcome, but a positive attitude will. Life is too short to spend at war with yourself. Practice acceptance and forgiveness. Don’t let dumb little things break your happiness.

True wealth is the ability to experience and appreciate each moment for what it’s worth. It is not what happens to you, but how you respond to what happens to you. Count your blessings while others are adding up their troubles. No matter how bad it hurts now, someday you will look back and realize today’s struggles made you a much stronger person. So always laugh when you can; it’s the cheapest medicine. When you smile about the life you live, you end up living a life worth smiling about.

4. The itch of old wounds from the past.

The first step to living the life you want is leaving the life you don’t want. Letting go of the past is your first step towards happiness.

You are not your past failures. You are not your past habits. You are not how others have at one time treated you. You are only who you think you are right now in this moment. You are only what you do right now in this moment.

You are here for a special reason. Stop being a prisoner of your past. Become the architect of your present and future. Learn from your regrets, but do not punish yourself with them. Live beyond your petty, fleeting fears and focus on the profound possibilities that await your immediate attention. (Read The Untethered Soul .)

5. The excuses you keep making for procrastinating.

Today, stop making excuses for why you can’t get it done and start focusing on all the reasons why you must make it happen. Stop talking about what you have done or what you are going to do. Just do it and let your actions speak for themselves. Most great things in life don’t happen by chance, they happen by choice. You never know what’s possible until you risk finding out.

Remember, it’s always better to look ahead and prepare than to look back and regret. In the end, there is only one thing that makes your dreams and goals completely impossible to achieve: Your lack of action.

6. A “safe” lifestyle void of excitement and passion.

You deserve to be happy. You deserve to live a life you are excited about. Don’t let others make you forget that. Don’t play it so safe that you put yourself in situations where none of your potential options satisfy your calling.

Have you ever tucked something of value in a “safe place” out of fear that you might lose it? And then one day awoke to the realization that you hid it so well, even YOU can no longer find it? If so, then you understand the wisdom of leaving your heart and dreams unlocked and open. To reach for what can be, even when you’re doubtful… To let go of what is lost, even when it’s painful… To live as though you’re brave, even when you’re fearful… These are the trials you face and the choices you must make along the path to happiness and success.

Close your eyes for a moment and ask yourself this: Isn’t it better to be extremely happy for a while, even if you eventually lose it, than to be just okay for your whole life? (Read Buddha’s Brain .)

7. Self-neglect.

The most difficult phase of life is not when no one understands you, it’s when you don’t understand yourself. It is easy to live for others, and so many people do, but I challenge you to live for yourself and your own values, ideas, and dreams. Believe in yourself. Listen to your soul. Yes, help others, but don’t neglect YOU in the process. Give yourself the time you deserve.

Live your life so that when you’re old, you never have to let the person you became fantasize about the person you were capable of being. And someday when it’s time to ask where all the time went, you can answer, “It went to joyful moments of self-discovery, to passionate endeavors, to doing work that felt like play, to standing up for what I believe in, and to exploring this beautiful world with an open heart. My time went to living MY life!”

Afterthoughts

Needless tolerations can bleed you dry and make it impossible for you to function effectively. You can’t live a happy, fulfilling life if you’re spending all your energy tolerating things that shouldn’t be tolerated. It’s time to put your foot down.

Remember, life is change, but growth is optional. So choose wisely starting now. Let today be the first day of the rest of your new life…

Your turn…

What would you add to this post? What sources of stress do you tolerate too often? Please leave us a comment below and share your thoughts.