Bookcase Memories of Creating a Better Life

I have been feeling a bit low for a few days, trying to navigate a week in which my energy and inspiration levels have been pretty close to zero.

It would be easy to resort to external name calling and finger pointing... but I'm more inclined to simply admit that I feel tired. It's the kind of tired that comes from working a lot, for many consecutive days, and not really feeling like you're "gaining on it."

Life goes in phases, like that.

At the moment, those phases are called "dog's final visit to the vet," $531.00. Renewal of homeowner's insurance, $510.00.

Sure, bills are a natural part of the human experience. Life is expensive! Not my point, and not arguing with that. What makes me feel tired is the reality that incomes — and I'm not just talking about myself, here — are rising much slower than the cost of living we must all bear.

It's a financial equation that unfortunately is breaking the bank of many families' personal finance situation.

But I digress.

I was spending a little time organizing the bookshelves in my home office, and came across all my shelves (and a couple of boxes) of books on self-development and self-improvement. These were areas of my life I really spent a lot of time with.

Did I learn a lot? I suppose I did, in some ways.

One sentence caught my eye: "Do not believe in loss or gain."

The point being that cause ourselves a lot of needless suffering because we get all wrapped up in what we have "lost," or becoming overly concerned with guarding what we have "gained."

Most of the time — although not always — these ideas are purely constructs in our minds; things we "make up" to try to lessen the pain of simply being alive.

With the benefit of many years of hindsight, it can be tempting to say that a lot of these spiritual and New Age books I read are little more than "Woo-woo Hooey." But — like most things in life — there's good and bad in every situation. Or what we perceive as good and bad.

Most things simply are. Like the cost of a dog's peace transition to another realm, and the cost of home insurance. Labeling these things as "bad" is pretty much nonsense, perhaps born out of a sense of frustration.

So I try to stay philosophical about it... and we adapt by accepting that rice and beans will become a more regular part of our diet.

Looking through the bookcase, though, I realized that virtually none of my dreams back then had anything to do with fortune and fame, and everything to do with finding some kind of contentment in life.

And — in most instances — I have done pretty well with that!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great week ahead!

How about you? Has your life turned out as you thought it would? Is what you aspired to 10, 20 or more years ago the same today? Leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

(All text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is ORIGINAL CONTENT, created expressly for this platform — Not posted elsewhere!)

Created at 2024.05.29 00:27 PDT
x784/2018