The secret to happiness

This is a chair:

And this is a person:

Wanting this person to be any different than they are, would be like wanting the chair to get up and walk across the room.

No matter how much I may want the chair to get up and walk across the room, it's never going to happen.

Because it's a chair. And chairs don't walk.

Wanting a person to be different than they are in any way IS just like wanting the chair to walk across the room.

It is.

No. It is.

Don't argue with me.

Wanting the people in my life to be different than they are is a waste of time.

Having expectations that they will be different than they are is a set up for disappointment.

Wanting someone to be different than they've been the entire time I've known them is a lot like the definition of insanity- Doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.

Wanting and expecting people to be more the way I want them to be as opposed to them being exactly the way that they are is not only insane and pointless, it's a lose-lose for both parties.

And it won't ever work. Much like wanting the chair to walk across the room.

Why not?

Because people are the way they are.

And I can't change them by wanting them to change.

So, what can I do?

Change myself.

Allow people to be the way they are.

Foster the ability to be great with people even when (especially when) they're not great with me.

Love them for who they are AND for who they're not.

And remember that people are the way they are.

And they're not the way they're not.

And a chair is just a chair.

And that is the secret to happiness.

The end.