Sometimes I have great moments of clarity. On those rare occasions, I “get it” and I take action.
But for the most part even when I have a moment of clarity, I slip back into my bad habits – not because they’re good for me – because they’re what I know and am used to.
What would it take to cut the proverbial bullshit?
what do you want?
what is the cost?
is it worth the price?
I came across these questions in the book Stretching Lessons by Sue Bender and reread them a bunch of times because they really speak to me. What do you want? What is the cost? Is it worth the price?
Gives you pause for thought, doesn’t it?
Apparently, a Buddhist teacher posed these questions as a way of helping Bender understand that she was closing down the part of herself that wasn’t pursuing her dreams.
She isn’t alone on this one. Too often, practicality holds us hostage. We want to make or dreams reality but we are too afraid to take that first step, much less the leap it might take to achieve our desires. The risk scares us and keeps us in our so-called comfort zones….even if it isn’t so comfortable.
Believe me, playing it safe has been my way of life for way too long. But where has it gotten me?
How about you? I think Bender has it right; not risking is too high a price to pay.
Take some baby steps if you can’t make the leap.
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” – Lao Tzu
My mom was 83 when she died last February. She had emphysema, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, and an assortment of heart issues that likely paid for her cardiologist’s kids’ college educations and his vacation home. On the surface, she was the quintessential old lady with white hair, oxygen tank, and shortness of breath.
But very few people who met her considered her elderly. That’s because as sick as she was, she radiated vitality. Mom had an irrepressible zest for life. Shortly before she died, Mom told me that she wasn’t afraid of dying (she was deeply religious), but she wasn’t ready to go because she was still having a good time and didn’t want it to end.
It sometimes shocked Mom to look in the mirror and see an old lady. Physically, she probably felt like she was 110. With her breathing issues, walking from the kitchen to the living room took the energy of running a 10K. Everything she did was a struggle during that last year. But she still considered her life grand. She said she felt like a 26 year old trapped in an 83 year old body. I found that oddly ironic; I’ve known 26 year olds who carried the weight of the world on their shoulders and seemed much older than my mom. The secret to her youthfulness was that she had a hard life but never let it weigh her down. She was always game for an adventure and had a great sense of fun.
My mom taught me by example that the key to living well and weathering every storm is to not take anything – especially yourself – too seriously. She was extraordinarily gracious and always optimistic.
She was one of a kind. I miss her so very much.
Life is about choices. Our circumstances and age can make us old before our time. Or we can live well and savor the day. Mom was a 26 year old in an 83 year old body. How about you? How old are you in your mind’s eye?
Sorry for flying under the radar for the past few weeks. I was sidetracked by jury duty. Out of 200+ potential jurors I was one of 16 chosen for a very long, high profile white collar crime trial – agh!. And then I spent the last couple of weeks reclaiming my life after being in that courthouse day after day after day. Too many things to do and not enough time to do them. Plus, I think I just needed a little break from technology.
The weird thing is that while sitting in the jury box, I wrote blogs in my head. Go figure.
When my life gets in the way, I go offline. How about you gentle reader? What do you do when life gets in the way?
here’s the link to the Wall Street Journal’s article about the case:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703730804576315101670843340.html
It’s only an hour. We’re going to turn ours off. How about you?
I’ve found my perfect job! I want to be a Happiness Engineer. I got the idea from an email I received from WordPress’ technical support team in response to technical difficulties I was having w/my blog. Here’s the email:
Hi,
I wanted to pass along an update here. We’ve put the site into read-only mode right now which means your Dashboard will be inaccessible for the time being.
I know this is frustrating but you can trust that your data is safe and that we are working as quickly as possible to restore full access to your blog.
We’ll keep you updated as we know more information. Thanks again for your patience.
Best,
Andrew | Happiness Engineer |
Happiness Engineer…… wow, what a title.
If this guy, Andrew, is truly a Happiness Engineer, why is he wasting his time working for WordPress? If I were a Happiness Engineer, I’d bring an end to social unrest and war by working my magic in the Middle East. At home, I’d visit the post office; a dose of happiness would do those dour clerks some good. I’d also visit Home Depot to help all the clerks who are trained to say, “Hello! Can I help you?!” To me (and likely, to them as well), they seem like automatons; their facial muscles must hurt from that constant forced smile. What they need is a Happiness Engineer to help them feel genuinely happy about having to deal w/dumb, home improvement wannabes like me. Just a thought….
I know what you’re thinking – we don’t need Happiness Engineers; we’ve got Prozac and shrinks. But I’m talking about something that doesn’t involve pharmaceuticals or digging too deeply into our childhoods. I think it would be great if we had Happiness Engineers whose careers are devoted to simply bringing inner joy to everyone’s daily experience, kind of like Glinda the Good Witch.
I think I’m ideally suited for this job. Come what may, I’m usually a pretty happy person. I think it comes from being resilient. Even so, I guess to become a skilled Happiness Engineer, I’ll have to figure what it means to be happy and what does it take to get there. If you have any suggestions, let me know. In the meantime, I hope you have a happy day.
A Broom of Her Own 
