I have started reading a little known but an eminently recommendable book, 'A guide to the good life' by William Irvine. Going by the title, one would imagine this book to be a how-to manual for enjoying the good life, for living it large, for living the big dreams.
Au contraire, the book has an entirely different perspective. My take home from the first couple of chapters of the book is this: The path to a fulfilling life comes not from chasing material goods that signal success but from training your mind to want stuff that you already have.
Let us think about this a little more. We strive to achieve our goals, get that coveted job, earn that promotion, marry the person of our dreams and give our children the best experiences that are available out there. After we achieve all of these things, we find ourselves not fulfilled yet. The rat race takes over. We berate our kids for not doing well enough at school, for not telling us sooner that something needed to be purchased for a school project due tomorrow. We crib about how the promotion we deserved was given to the person who must be brown nosing the boss. We take our spouse for granted. Life becomes a series of chores to be gotten through. It doesn't need to.
When was the last time we took time out to truly enjoy that which we already have : our relationships and even our possessions that we worked so hard to obtain? I realize that I have been guilty of this too. I worked for years to be able to finally afford a German car. And what have I been doing ever since the prize had been bagged?
Starting tomorrow, I am going to find reasons to celebrate what I already have. Wish I had chanced upon this book a decade ago. On the other hand, perhaps there is a time and place when such wisdom will hit home.
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