What Mosquitos Teach You About Happiness

Mosquitoes are the worst. So how can they possibly give you a life lesson?

They can completely ruin a perfectly beautiful night. You’re outside enjoying the slightly cooler evening temperatures and just want to be happy.

But all of a sudden you see a mosquito fly through your peripheral vision, so you panic and start flailing. Or you get no warning at all and just feel the sting of where it bit you.

And if you’re very unlucky, you may get bitten 20 times in just a few minutes. Sure, you’re smart, so you use repellent lotion and repellent candles and repellent plug-ins, but those annoying blood-suckers will hunt you, especially at night.

They wait until you feel secure under your bedsheets. And when you’re mind is slowly drifting off to sleep, that’s when you hear the annoying high pitch buzzing of the dreaded mosquito.

Now you have 2 options: You angrily flick on the lights, get your slipper and switch to beast mode, or you’re so tired that you strike a deal in your head. “Okay, you can bite me, but wait until I’m asleep (because this sound is awful), and don’t bite my face…”

If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito

The Dalai Lama

Mosquitoes abroad

The fun-ruining powers of mosquitoes get even worse when you go to a different country. And no, that’s not the life lesson. And I don’t mean that mosquitoes can carry diseases.

When I spent 3 weeks in Russia, those were the worst mosquito bites ever. They took about 10 days to “heal”, they swell to the size of grapes and they hurt and itch forever.

The same (only a bit less violent) happened this summer in Slovenia and Croatia. Each mosquito bite took a week to disappear and they were really itchy all the time.

Even with a week-old bite, it was hard to sleep. And everyone had about 15-30 bites and I’m not making this up!

Even though we used every mosquito repelling technique available. It’s not like we had a light party inside with the windows open…

So what is the life lesson?

Now, that was a lot of mosquito talk for a post that’s not about mosquitoes. So why am I telling you this?

The life lesson we got from the mosquitoes is that you sometimes can’t do anything about your situation. But you should not let this ruin your life.

If you’ve tried everything and there’s nothing you can do to make your situation better, you need to let it go.
Accept it and make the best of it.

After a while, everyone just kind of accepted our mosquito fate and we didn’t let it ruin our vacation.

Although it was impossible to forget about the bites because they were so darn itchy, no one complained. And I’m grateful because it would have ruined the vacation for real.

Can you imagine listening to someone whining every day because the mosquitoes were so bad and the bites hurt & itched?

Mosquito life lesson: Your mindset matters

Happiness is a choice. And your mindset makes all the difference. A little positivity goes a long way.

If you’re unhappy with something, don’t make excuses and look for ways to make it better. You should always try to get yourself out of the mess you’re in.

But if there’s nothing you can do, or it takes time (because you first have to learn a new skill for example) then I highly recommend you accept that “it is what it is” in the meantime.

I insisted on the mosquito story because that’s something everyone can relate to. And it’s important that these bites didn’t only last a day or two like when your “local” mosquitoes bite you at home.

Of course, mosquitoes are not the worst and that was just a fun intro.
There are plenty of worse problems you can have on your vacation or in real life. Unless the mosquito gives you Malaria or some other disease.

But you see my point.

You’re the boss. Whatever is happening and however unfair it is.
You get to decide what you do with it. .

You choose if you let it ruin your day. And that can be hard to realize when you’re in the middle of a freaking mess. But it’s never too late to change course.

So, maybe this little anecdote helps you see the truth in this life lesson. Don’t let the mosquito beat you.
Make the best of your situation while you’re looking for a solution. Complaining and self-pity only make things worse!

Also check out this post with 44 fantastic “enjoy life” quotes.

Be stronger than the mosquito,

Improve yourself. Improve your life!

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