1) People Will Hate
As much as we love the messages of love and being positive, the truth is human beings have as much capacity to hate as they do to love. When people are being hateful, criticizing, or just downright negative, it's important to remind ourselves it's not a personal attack. We don't know what's going on in their lives so it's impossible to say why they're doing what they're doing but we shouldn't take it personally.
People like things and they dislike things. When expressing opinions they're just doing what they do and many of them don't even realize they're doing it. Accepting that people have hate, and may express it more often than love, is important to keep things in perspective. When we encounter an opinion that's overly negative, we just remind ourselves it's someone's opinion. Remember, we're not immune to seeming negative either. When making suggestions or sharing opinions, it's important to be sure what we say is clear and if it's negative, try to keep it constructive. There's a big difference between someone who complains a lot and someone identifying problems and offering solutions.
2) People Will Love
I know, this seems like an odd one. How can people loving be a life lesson? Well it's less about the act of loving and more about what people love. Sometimes people will love something we dislike or even hate. This does not mean they're any smarter or dumber than we are, they just have different taste and view things differently than we do. It's important for our own well being to not become angry over things other people are passionate about. Yes, this includes Twilight.
Everyone loves people who love the same things they do and are quick to dismiss people who disagree. We tend to overgeneralize that if people see life the same way we do they "get it" when in reality we stand to learn more from people who view things differently than people who have the same viewpoint as ours. That's not to say all people have good opinions, some are just wrong, and that's ok because it doesn't have to affect you. People are going to love the things they love, and that's great for them, and has absolutely no affect on you or your life. If you don't like something, tune it out, just ignore it. Don't get caught in a trap of hating on something others like as a pastime, we should instead spend our time focusing on the things we love.
3) Being a Good Person is Not Synonymous with Good Fortune
If there's anything family movies have taught us is that good people receive good fortune while the evil doers ultimately get the misfortune they deserve. It's also good to remind ourselves that movies are examples of how people wish life was, not how it actually is. Anyone who's lived life has seen examples good people with good fortune, sure, but it's probably more realistic they've seen more of the opposite. We all know, or even believe ourselves to be, good people who never seem to catch a break. The truth is being a good person is just a thankless thing we should all practice as decent human beings. There's no guarantee that doing good deeds will translate into a nicer life but at least we can go to sleep each night knowing we've not done wrong by anyone. Life is a non-stop series of events, some are good, some are bad, and these things happen to everyone, good and bad.
Additionally, it's important to understand being a good person does not mean be a person that gets walked on. We should all live life to a level of respect that we hold ourselves and others to. Sure people may take advantage of us now and again but we live and learn and we don't allow them to do it a second time. While it's important to be a good person, it's more important we're being good people towards other good people who are deserving of it.
4) Life's Not Fair
Our lives are a series of events with a lot of contributing factors affecting how each day plays out. These events can be positive, negative, or neutral and any combination of these things could cause a pretty chill day or one that pushes us to the very edge of our sanity. The thing is, it's all random and it's not about us as an individual. Sure there are factors we can control such as the people we allow into our life, the job we choose to do, etc. but there's no real way to filter out the plans life has in store for us. Good things happen, bad things happen, sometimes nothing happens. This is why it's important to truly appreciate the good things that happen when they do, they don't tend to happen often.
Life is life and while we may not be able to control the things that happen to us, we can always control how we react to them. Sometimes things go well for a long period of time and sometimes it just seems nothing works out for what seems like forever. The truth is, life changes and we need to be able to change with it. As things happen, we need to keep ourselves level-headed and remind ourselves that these things happen and soon other things will happen. Getting upset or angry over "bad" things happening only affects us and our outlook on other things. Bad stuff happens to everyone, despite the feeling it only happens to us ;) Have a sense of humor and do your best to shrug off the static. Life is how we want to view it and there is no concept of what's "fair" in the grand scheme of things; things just happen.
5) We Make Our Life Every Day
While it's true we do not have control over a lot that happens in life, it's also true we have more control over things than we like to think. For example; the people we choose to interact with play a major role in our lives. If we surround ourselves with people who are dishonest, shady, nosy, or disrespectful, well our lives will surely be filled with unnecessary drama. We should expect the people around us enrich our lives, not sap it dry.
If we find ourselves surrounded with the wrong people and are unhappy, it's never too late to change. It's important to remember every day is new and always a good time for a new start. We can cut those people out and put effort into surrounding ourselves with different people who respect us and we respect back.
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