“Free your mind… and the rest will follow.” En Vogue certainly nailed that lyric. Marcus Aurelius wrote “External things are not the problem. It’s your assessment of them.” Lenny Bruce penned “There is no ‘what should be’. There is only ‘what is’”.  Kristin Neff’s Self Compassion advises “Pain is unavoidable, suffering is optional.” 

Perception is the story you tell, and continue to tell, yourself. It’s the way you frame life. It’s completely in your control and at your mercy. Do you tend to deal with things as they are, or do you tend to color them in an attempt to obscure a real issue, lessen a hurt or hangup, ignore a pain point, or “paint lipstick on a pig”? 

Moving forward in life requires you to live in the “what-is not the what-ifs” (credit to my sister for that one). When you learn to see things as they are and deal with them in their naked form, you start to remove the layers of paint you’ve put on them over the years. The paint isn’t the issue, it may have served you in the past, but you want more from life and are tired of changing the color. 

Deal with something in your life that you tend to color over. Then get up and do it again. You will be amazed to learn how much of the “suffering” in your life is completely within your control.