*Snap!*
*Pop!*
“OUCH!”
A couple of years back I was playing a game of pick-up basketball and snapped a ligament in my right knee. With the inevitable 9-12 months rehab process awaiting me after surgery, you can imagine how devastated I was. However, despite feeling down I realized that nothing could change the fact that this happened. This incident presented me with an optimistic opportunity:
Either I could play victim to the injury or I could make the most out of the situation.
![](https://media.dailyfitboost.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/knee-pain-300x200.jpg)
I decided to accept this optimistic opportunity that life seems to give us all from time to time. I soon became more and more enamored with the idea of “my own personal comeback story” and started the process of taking each day one step at a time.
Eventually, this process helped me realize
My negative feelings weren’t the result of the injury itself, but rather, my perception of the injury.
This changed everything for me.
![](https://media.dailyfitboost.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/resized-300x200.jpg)
Thankfully, we can begin changing our perceptions in many areas of our lives. For instance:
Instead of:
“I can’t believe I failed my certification exam again”,
How about:
“Now I get an opportunity to study and gain an even greater understanding of the material than if I had passed this time around.”
Instead of:
“I can’t believe my girlfriend broke up with me”
How about:
“Now I focus 100% on my mental, emotional, and physical well-being so I can attract someone even better down the line.”
![](https://media.dailyfitboost.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/fist-300x265.jpg)
What about the optimistic opportunities in your everyday health and fitness?
- Are you a hopeless overweight, or “a continuous work in progress”?
- Is exercise consistency hard, or “something that takes time to develop a little bit each day”?
- Did you “fail” to complete your treadmill time, or take “small, positive steps towards your goal”?
You decide!
Key Takeaways:
- Disappointments are opportunities to change your perception
- Negative emotions come from negative perceptions (not the circumstance itself)
- You decide the perception of your situation