My Current Opinion

I think many people, if not most, wish to better their lot in life -- whether this means making more money, achieving more fame, being thinner, healthier or a host of other things that we fancy will make us happier. There is nothing wrong with any of these things in and of themselves and to those who desire and attain one or more, I say more power to them. The danger in these desires, however, is that they can easily obscure the good that we already have in our lives. Lately I have come to see the error of my own way in this regard.

Each of us sits in the center of our own created universe. The group of spirits that hangs out together and calls itself humanity shares a common dream, but we, each one of us, shape our own world within that context. By now we all know that the sum total of our thoughts, feelings and actions makes our lives what they are. This being so, each of us is responsible for the conditions of his or her life. Indeed, the current condition of our life reflects the current condition of our self. In this sense, we are our lives. If this is true, and I currently believe that it is, then to be dissatisfied with our life is to be dissatisfied with our self. If we hate our lives then we are really hating our selves. This is not a recipe for happiness. Negative thoughts and feelings about our lives only make for more problems.

I recently realized that I have been making this mistake myself. Instead of finding joy in the wonderful things I already have, I had been focusing on my perceived lack. Ignoring the positive, I had been dwelling on the negative. Rather than loving my life, I had fallen into sometimes almost hating it. When I could have been nurturing and feeding my self and my life I had been starving them. By focusing on what we think we don't have, can't do or won't try we create more lack. But by focusing on the positive things in our lives we create more of them.

If you have access to these words then there is already significant good in your life. Identify with all of the good you can find. Be grateful for and find joy in what you have. Love your life and it will love you back. I'll be working on doing the same.

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