Complicating Things
So often in life we complicate things thinking we are doing ourselves a favor or presenting in the best possible way. We want adventure so we splurge an entire paycheck to go on vacation only to come back and not have enough to put food on the table because you only life once right? And the beige feeling of everyday life has us thinking it is better to squander it all on a weekend than to take the time to save. “Living” for the moment is more important than investing in moments to come.
Instant Gratification
We live in such an instant gratification society that we are almost shocked when things take time to create, build, or flourish. In order to get the body you want you have to change your lifestyle and do more and eat less. Are you insane? Let me just take this magic pill instead. We want to be successful or have the storybook love or be the best at whatever it is we are passionate about. So, instead of focusing on building we try to acquire. This job doesn’t pay enough so despite the fact it’s incredible and I feel at home here I’ll just go take this other one that pays more now but robs me of my joy for every work day to come. Or we want to have those romantic vacation photos so we jump into relationships hoping to find the “right” one instead of becoming the right one first.
Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness
Remember in elementary school when we learned those three important things: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I think we gave up on the pursuit. Happiness is a choice, not a result. Nothing will make you happy until you choose to be happy. No person will make you happy unless you decide to be happy. Your happiness will not come to you, it will only come from you. And it does that through your everyday moments where you invest in a better you.
The year is almost halfway over and so many of us are exactly where we were when we created all those New Years resolutions. We might have made a purchase towards them, but we definitely haven’t invested ongoing in ourselves. I hope the rest of this year you embrace “yes”. Yes to your pursuit of happiness. That thing that you could talk about for hours and your eyes sparkle when you speak it, say yes to that. You’re worth the pursuit. Build the life you have always imagined by investing in the you of 5 years from now. Go enjoy your pursuit.
Cassandra is an ILS Supervisor at Compass. You can read more of her posts here.
Very insightful.
Lovely