The more we get. The more we want.
We finally land that promotion we’ve been working hard for, for the past 2 years or we hit that business goal we set and we’re happy. For a week. Or a month. Then we begin to think of the next big thing we want to achieve.
We finally meet an awesome man or woman who we can really be ourselves with – warts and all. Then after a couple of months, we find he or she has this little insignificant annoying habit that begins to grate on our nerves. Before you know it, it’s all we can focus on as all the other amazing things fade into the background.
We manage to shave time off our weekly run, lift more weight, master that yoga pose and immediately set a new goal to crush.
Rather than sit back and soak up our hard work, give ourselves a pat on the back, appreciate the fact that we achieved what we set out to do, we want…
Stronger. Better. Faster. Harder. Newer. More.
And to the detriment of ourselves and others around us, we begin to judge our own journey and path. We look at others and compare ourselves to them. We size ourselves up to measure how we’ve “surpassed” another or how they’ve “surpassed” us. Or we judge that either we or the other person might be “lagging behind”.
But that’s really all a matter of perception, isn’t it? What’s right for one person isn’t necessarily right for the next. How one person defines success may not be the way another one does. And while we may see things way differently than another person, it doesn’t mean that either one of us is right or wrong. It’s just different.
What would happen if we just took the time to appreciate the good around us instead of focusing on all the negatives?
What would happen if we gave ourselves a break from the grind and rat race instead of constantly striving for the next best thing?
What would happen if we allowed the people around us to see the world through their own eyes instead of trying to change them?
This isn’t about settling, giving up or becoming apathetic. This is about understanding that sometimes, when we’re so set on achieving a goal, we can dismiss the work along the way. When we finally achieve it, it can be positively anti-climactic because we miss the process – the point of it all. So we rush to meet the next goal.
This is about understanding that no single person can possibly be absolutely everything we think we need. We’re all human after all and asking a person to fit our idea of perfection is unrealistic, unfair and setting us up for dissatisfaction and disappointment.
This is about giving ourselves the permission to be in a space where we can give ourselves a break from setting unrealistic expectations on ourselves and others.
We’re all entitled to living our own lives. We all have views of how the world works, what works for us and what we need.
If you’re reading this right now, that means you have a computer, laptop or smartphone, and an internet connection that allows you to connect instantly with people half-way across the world and brings the world to your fingertips. So let’s start there.
Before we get back to our days, the next thing on our to-do list, a pressing urgent matter, let’s stop for a minute and just be cool with the fact that we’re pretty damn lucky to be able to connect like this. Let’s appreciate that the lives we’re living today – the conveniences we have – were unimaginable only a short while ago.
And on that note – I’m handing this over to Louis CK. Because the man, sure as shit, has a helluva way with words.
Much love, XXX
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