optimism is overpowered

welcome to introspection ft. harsehaj! ⭐️ i’m harsehaj, an 18 y/o always up to something in social good x tech.

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btw, feel free to reply with topic ideas you want me to write about for future posts.

onto today’s topic: optimism is overpowered ☀️ 

if there’s one lesson i truly internalized from my hike up kilimanjaro, it’s that my physical limits will only ever be surpassed if my mental fortitude enables it.

as corny as it is, you really can’t do anything until you truly believe you’re capable. with each, “how are you all feeling?” i replied with a “great!” even if my legs were sore after 8 hours of nonstop hiking uphill, even if i was freezing, and even if i just wanted to go to sleep. 😴 

why? well, since i was so positive about my circumstance and decided to focus on gratitude, my physical capabilities matched up with my mental threshold and i surpassed my own expectations. i found things to smile about rather than wallowing over my drenched clothes or the fatigue settling in my legs. this optimism fuelled my energy to persevere. 🧗‍♀️ 

often times, i was so caught up in my appreciation for the beauty around me that the physical challenge didn’t even register in my mind or body.

in the hostel i’m staying at right now, there’s a poster with the quote, “happiness is not an achievement, it’s a choice that you can make right now,” and i can’t help but think this is so true in a lot of cases.

obviously, you can be upset about things going wrong, but you ultimately choose to weigh those higher over the dozens other things that are going right. ⚖️ an experience being positive or negative is mostly in your control, and optimism is a choice that will leave you feeling so much more fulfilled.

a no-brainer choice, right?

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