What makes us stressful? What would it take for us to be grateful for what we have? Why do we constantly want to accomplish something when we always beat ourselves along the way anyway?
I have heard a lot of times that we learn to appreciate things or realize the importance of someone or something when it is gone. Why can we not just love and cherish the important things now and stop looking elsewhere? Why is it easier for us to say, "I want more" instead of "Thank you for all of these"? Is it because we think we know more and that we can do more so therefore we deserve more? Or perhaps it is because we unconsciously have it in our head that truly, the grass is greener on the other side, that we as humans just want what we do not have. Or maybe because we are just naturally competitive, if we are not competing with each other, we compete with our selves. We look at the lives of others, those who have done well, and then we look at those who in our own made up individual standards have done poorly. We stand where we are and we find ourselves looking up to those who we think are admirable and say to ourselves we want to be like them, and unconsciously or consciously make our decisions as to what we want to do or who we want to be in life based on what we see from others. We want to be known, we want to be heard, we want to make our mark. We become driven. And when we have that drive, we want to see results, results that we want to be able to measure, in numbers, in money, in material wealth because ultimately though we like it or not, we as society equate material possessions to success and that it is only when we have these material wealth that we can then say to ourselves, "I am accomplished. I am fulfilled. I am successful."
"Ambition is an unusual word, " Donald Trump says, but I say that not only it is unusual it is also tricky for once you lose your sight to what really matters, ambition can lead you to the dark hole and sometimes all alone with no one but yourself in a pedestal.
Do what you do and aim high, do your best at all times but do not lose and drown yourself in isolation and being apart from what matters most in life. Be thankful --- for gratitude can give you the peace of mind, the pleasure of fulfillment, the sense of pride that no material wealth can provide. Gratitude makes you feel joyous, that kind of happiness that builds up in your heart and puts a smile in your lips. Find reasons to be thankful for everyday because there is truly an abundance around you, from the sun that shines, the air you breathe, the water you drink, the warmth of your bed, that piece of old day bread you just ate.
The time I started not thinking about "me" and started thinking about "them"---my children and my husband, I felt better. I'd like to think that my sense of being is about them, that my purpose is they, that they are truly the essence of what life is for me.
Family photo taken on New Year's Eve 2010
I have heard a lot of times that we learn to appreciate things or realize the importance of someone or something when it is gone. Why can we not just love and cherish the important things now and stop looking elsewhere? Why is it easier for us to say, "I want more" instead of "Thank you for all of these"? Is it because we think we know more and that we can do more so therefore we deserve more? Or perhaps it is because we unconsciously have it in our head that truly, the grass is greener on the other side, that we as humans just want what we do not have. Or maybe because we are just naturally competitive, if we are not competing with each other, we compete with our selves. We look at the lives of others, those who have done well, and then we look at those who in our own made up individual standards have done poorly. We stand where we are and we find ourselves looking up to those who we think are admirable and say to ourselves we want to be like them, and unconsciously or consciously make our decisions as to what we want to do or who we want to be in life based on what we see from others. We want to be known, we want to be heard, we want to make our mark. We become driven. And when we have that drive, we want to see results, results that we want to be able to measure, in numbers, in money, in material wealth because ultimately though we like it or not, we as society equate material possessions to success and that it is only when we have these material wealth that we can then say to ourselves, "I am accomplished. I am fulfilled. I am successful."
"Ambition is an unusual word, " Donald Trump says, but I say that not only it is unusual it is also tricky for once you lose your sight to what really matters, ambition can lead you to the dark hole and sometimes all alone with no one but yourself in a pedestal.
Do what you do and aim high, do your best at all times but do not lose and drown yourself in isolation and being apart from what matters most in life. Be thankful --- for gratitude can give you the peace of mind, the pleasure of fulfillment, the sense of pride that no material wealth can provide. Gratitude makes you feel joyous, that kind of happiness that builds up in your heart and puts a smile in your lips. Find reasons to be thankful for everyday because there is truly an abundance around you, from the sun that shines, the air you breathe, the water you drink, the warmth of your bed, that piece of old day bread you just ate.
The time I started not thinking about "me" and started thinking about "them"---my children and my husband, I felt better. I'd like to think that my sense of being is about them, that my purpose is they, that they are truly the essence of what life is for me.
Family photo taken on New Year's Eve 2010
