VITAMINS FOR THE MIND by Ron Reynolds #3370 (Tuesday, September 3, 2013) Putting Happiness Off That’s a strange thing to do – putting happiness off until later ends up working out for very few people; they get so wrapped up in chasing the things they think will make them happy that they often forget how to be happy. One of the three things our forefathers wanted America to be was a place where we could engage in ‘the pursuit of happiness.’ But pursuit can, if we’re not careful, engulf us and steal away all the current happiness that surrounds us; we whiz right on by those who love us, those who respect us, those who want to be more like we are, while we move like a heat-seeking missile toward something that even we haven’t yet defined. As I wrote a few days ago, if we don’t know what we’re pursuing, how will we know when we’ve found it? And, what’s even more important is that our pursuit can be so all-consuming that we end up losing the happiness that was imbedded in many of the things and many of the people who were making us happy before we began to charge toward the unknown and the undefined. But, as is almost always the case, there’s ‘another side of the coin,’ and we must pause to consider it; the other side of ‘missing the happiness’ is not really being happy with where and how we are in the first place; it’s when our burdens exceed our blessings that we sometimes have to decide to move forward – to run toward the unknown in order to preserve who and what we are. But we always must take care that we don’t leave behind that which really gave us so much happiness even though our burdens were so great. All of us have to pause now and then to consider whether we’re running from something or whether we’re running toward something, and merely ‘running from’ something can find you in the middle of a vast desert having achieved little or nothing simply because you left behind you too many of the things of value in pursuit of so much that you never bothered to define. Wherever you are, be there, and look for the things and the people you insist on taking with you so you can all engage in the pursuit of a life and lifestyle that only add to your happiness. Remember, in the final analysis it’s the journey that is filled with happiness – or should be – and not just the destination. And as you engage in your pursuit with those you love, make certain you know what you’re pursuing – don’t just push the accelerator to the floor and head into the unknown. Your personally written and carefully thought out goal list is your roadmap; it’s like the grocery list you write and take to the store in order to make certain you come home with the right things. Without a list of reasons for launching yourself into the unknown, you could end up with lots of ‘stuff’ that you don’t want – what I call the ‘trinkets’ of life – only to discover that what you lost in the pursuit was so important to your happiness that nothing you can ever obtain can really be as fulfilling as you once hoped it would be. And remember – happiness is not something you pursue, it’s something you attract by what you’ve become. The views expressed on this post are those of Ron Reynolds and do not necessarily reflect the views of AdvoCare.
Posted on: Tue, 03 Sep 2013 12:00:01 +0000
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