As far back as I can remember, I’ve been someone who tries to make the best with what I’ve got. The story I like to tell myself is “I didn’t have a choice” so I was forced to accept the cards that were dealt to me and figure out how to live with them.
But that’s not entirely accurate. When I was a child, there were many circumstances beyond my control that I had to make the best of:
- Being the only kid I knew whose parents had divorced.
- Relocating many times and being the “new kid” repeatedly.
- A bullying sister, mostly absent mother and bipolar stepfather.
- A complete lack of athletic skill, attractiveness or artistic ability.
- Living in poverty.
Don’t shed any tears for me. Learning how to cope with these situations made me more resilient. Learning how to make the best of some challenging, frustrating and at times, awful, circumstances helped mold me into the man I am today.
Maybe.
Or maybe I was born with glass half full genetics. Perhaps I’d have been much the same if I had grown up with a much easier, cushy childhood.
I was reading about satisficers and maximizers recently and clearly, I’m a satisficer.
Is that a good thing? I don’t know.
I think it’s been a good thing for me given my life’s circumstances.
I know some people who are maximizers. All of them drive themselves crazy fretting over FOMO, evaluating every option and then second guessing their decisions and never feeling quite satisfied.
When I’ve tried to help them, it usually doesn’t work.
Maybe it because, like me, they were born that way too.