Surround yourself with things and people that make you happy and make your life positive. It sounds like a really simple and easy concept. I know.

But looking at the past few months of my life, I found things that lead to more bad than good all because of someone in my life or because of a job or because of other factors that I had control over.

In life, we honestly do not have control over as much as we would like to think. There are way too many external factors that affect us on a daily basis.

Therefore, I’ve learned that it’s even more important to look at what you can change. What things in your life do you have control over? What can you do to be positive? How can you change friendships, relationships, and work environments to surround yourself with positivity?

Being unhappy is quite easy. Especially when those that you surround yourself with contribute to that feeling.

From friendships to relationships, I think that it’s sometimes hard to realize that you may be negative or unhappy because of your environment or because of the people surrounding you. Sometimes it’s simply difficult to admit to yourself that you are unhappy in the first place.

If you’re like me, you tend to put others before yourself and your feelings seem to fall on the back burner. Then, one day, you wake up and realize that something needs to change.

Wanting to be around people who support you isn’t a bad thing. Trust me, for a while I thought it was. Being that selfless person also led to me feeling bad when I realized that I needed to remove some toxic people from my life as well as a toxic job.

I became so stuck in a routine of working at the same company for 30 to 40 hours a week that in my eyes, it was just normal. Being annoyed or frustrated going into work just seemed to fit and I, unfortunately, accepted it for a long time. After taking the time to really look at what I wanted to change from a work standpoint, I became much happier with that aspect of my life.

The same can be said when it comes to friendships and relationships. I’ve been stuck with people before too, which is a really difficult thing to deal with. Being friends with someone, especially for a long length of time, is truly an investment. And it really does hit home when you realize that someone who you were once so close to is someone who now puts a damper on things in your life. Admitting this to myself and identifying who I needed to remove from my life was a challenge.

In the long-run though I’ve come out with a very tight group of friends. Friends who are supportive of whatever it is that I do. Friends that lift me up and make me more positive – even when I’m down. Friends who make life fun.

When I was younger, I never truly realized that having a few good people in your life could influence you drastically. Today, I’ve never been so grateful.