The mind is not your friend. It is a tool that requires taming, discipline and understanding. Remember this the next time you eye a leather handbag that costs a week’s salary. It will swear you can afford it and have your initials engraved on it so you can’t return it.
I was 19 when I walked into a small temple in the Hollywood hills on a warm, Wednesday evening. The first words I heard were, “the fulfillment of every desire only reveals its inadequacy.” I remember thinking intrinsically, I knew this, yet consciously, I had never thought about it. Over the years, it stuck with me; a soft reminder in the back of my mind, an old friend who popped up in situations too numerous to count.
We think if we get this job, that man or woman, a baby, a car, a house, money, prestige, recognition—the endless stream of human desires—then we will be happy. It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t strive for those things in life we believe will make us happy. Know they are finite in their fulfillment.
For me, happiness is a state of mind. In every moment of every day, in every interaction and decision, we make a choice to be happy or not. The rest of it is just the toy in the happy meal.
Dear Friend,
Yes, I do know how you feel. I have had mornings when I woke up and thought, “I am getting up because?” and there was no answer. A vague empty, ‘what am I doing this all for’ feeling. Menopause and aging have something to do with it. Family and relationships have something to do with it. But most of all, I have to do with it. Continue Reading
Made with in Texas
