I Stopped Playing Life on Hard Mode and Here's What Happened

Life doesn't award medals for making things harder than they need to be. Yet so many of us unconsciously choose the difficult path, carrying burdens that weigh us down and steal our joy. Today, I want to share a truth that transformed my perspective: the power of keeping your heart clean about others.

Stop Playing Life on Hard Mode

You face enough challenges by default: work stress, family responsibilities, financial pressures. Why add unnecessary difficulty by holding onto every slight disappointment, every moment when someone let you down?

That mean comment from a primary school classmate? It's time to let it go. Your friend who couldn't be there during your difficult time? Choose to release that resentment. When you continue dwelling in a reality where someone hurt you or failed to show up, you transform yourself from a survivor into a victim. You become someone who needs saving rather than someone who thrives despite pressure.

Give Others the Benefit of the Doubt

We take others' contributions to our lives too seriously: their words, actions, and perceived intentions. I'm someone who approaches life with seriousness and doesn't entertain games, but I've learned not to overanalyse others' motivations.

When you must guess someone's intentions, always guess the best. If your boss seems harsh, consider that they might be under pressure or dealing with unresolved issues. This perspective shift protects your peace and prevents you from creating unnecessary drama in your mind.

Break the Cycle of Reactivity

I used to react to everything. I'd snap back at perceived slights, hold grudges for years, and cut people off for being mean. Maybe I was reading too much into situations. I'd get triggered by snide remarks or backhanded compliments, letting these moments consume my thoughts.

Here's what I discovered: gracefully composing yourself might feel painful in the moment, but it saves you years of headache. Those reactive moments compound into sleepless nights filled with regret, either because your reaction was embarrassing, you misread the situation, or it simply didn't matter for your life's story.

Choose Thoughtful Response Over Knee-Jerk Reaction

Some situations require a measured response, including asking clarifying questions, communicating to understand, apologising when necessary, and moving forward. However, never create negative loops of action that keep both parties in a heightened, alarmed state.

Often, you're the only one trapped in this cycle. The other person doesn't even realise you've been burning with resentment, festering in anger, drowning in a hellish party you've created for yourself. Passive-aggressive behaviour, open dislike, facial disapproval, excluding others from your life, or isolating yourself from social events: these actions are childish and advertise you as such.

Embrace the Freedom of Letting Go

Imagine how much easier life becomes when you allow yourself to let go. When you practice patience and show mercy to others. We remember our humanity but forget that others are human too. Just as we have flaws, others are bound to make mistakes.

When someone hurts you, why ban them entirely from your life? (I'm not talking about cases of deliberate harm or abuse. Those require different responses.) Life becomes infinitely easier when you simply let go.

Keep Your Heart Clean

Don't store other people's flaws in your heart. Don't enter negative loops where everything you do keeps you from finding peace, trapping you in a cycle of negative emotions instead.

Choose to be someone who won't fold under society's pressure. Someone who thrives rather than merely survives. Someone who understands that carrying grudges is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to get sick.

Your heart is precious real estate. Fill it with gratitude, hope, and love, not with resentment, anger, and old wounds.

The choice is always yours: Will you live in peace or continue playing life on hard mode? The medal for making things unnecessarily difficult doesn't exist, but the reward for choosing peace is immeasurable.