Appreciating Life

Finding contentment and happiness, when you don't have...

6:20 am... Sometimes... Let's be honest, often, we find ourselves focused on the down parts of life. It's easy to worry over the things we don't have - the better job, the new car, the ideal mate. In fact, studies have shown that it's instinctual. Over the millennia we have survived by focusing on the bad things more than the good ones. After all, eating the perfect mango can happen a thousand times, but getting eaten by the tiger you didn't see is pretty much a one-time event.

But what about in the modern era? For most of us, getting eaten by a tiger is a pretty remote possibility, and survival, as our ancestors knew it, is essentially guaranteed. So, what do we find ourselves focused on? Usually love or money... or the lack thereof. But what is this really? What are we doing when we yearn for these things? We are creating desire. A desire for things we do not possess. A negative point upon which to focus. Since tigers are not around to menace us, we menace ourselves. And while running from the tiger may be difficult, running from ourselves is impossible.

But that's the key, isn't it. There is no tiger, there is only ourselves. The tiger is imaginary, the desire is imaginary. We can let it go. We can choose to focus on the good things in our lives. And once we do, there are so many to focus upon that we are surprised by them. 

Another lyric comes to mind from the band Uncle Lucius. The song is No Time Flat... "I'm thankful for laughing, the air that I'm breathing, the journey itself's become the reason for living. It's the reason for living."

When you find yourself worrying over all the potential destinations on your path through life, remember that it is the journey which matters, not the stones in your passway... 6:44 am...