The Basic Jist of things
The more good/positive stuff you do, the more awesome you feel. This might be something small like eating your favourite chocolate, or something big, like organising a really successful fundraising event.However, running a successful charity event will increase your "feel-good" much more than eating some chocolate.
I think that believing that you are having a positive impact increases awesome levels more than anything else.
In reality, there are few people who can be doing amazingly good things 24/7, 365 days a year. As young people, we have to work/study which I personally sometimes don't enjoy. Therefore, levels of good stuff will vary...
However, if over time, you are continuously doing more good than bad (Glass theory), then your levels of esteem keep going up. When faced with adversity, awesomeness levels may dip a bit, but won't hit the bottom because of positive actions in the past.
The half-full/empty glass
During the incubator, I remember Rachie18 standing at the front holding a half-full glass. It reminded me of a story that someone once told me...
Water represents good things in life and the emptiness is the bad stuff. Life is about keeping the glass more than half-full. I think that people burn-out a lot when they stop enjoying things they do and water drips out of the glass.
From my volunteering experience, volunteering is not always 100% enjoyable. Times can be tough and I have seen people powering on, with empty glasses and eventually quitting. For me, knowing your glass is quite important and if I know it's going to be bad week...I fill my time with positivity so my glass always has something in it.
How do you keep it full?
Achieving small things is sometimes more important than achieving big things because you need a small win to continue being a big winner.
I set myself goals quite often, and when I achieve them, I feel great! And when I feel great, I'm in the mood to do more great stuff, set bigger goals and achieve even more.
I have a pretty silly example, but I'll say it anyway. I hate waking early, so I have a daily goal to get out of bed on time, which I usually achieve..
Conclusion
This is a bit of a rant, and I'm still not sure if it makes sense. I guess it's open to debate because the definition of "good stuff" is different to everyone... Hmmm... I'll think about it a bit more later (when I'm less sleepy!)
On a final note, 2008 was my one of my favourite years because I think my glass was pretty full all year round, and I have to say, life was bloody awesome!
