“Trying to be happy by accumulating possessions is like trying to satisfy hunger by taping sandwiches all over your body.”
~ George Carlin
Another hazy morning here in the VI, with more tropical storm busting sahara dust in the air. While I appreciate the storm busting – as we have another entity that just launched off the coast of Africa – I’ve been waking up with a very scratchy throat. All this dust can’t be so great for our lungs. No wonder I’ve been waking up early, as 3AM-5AM is lung time on our biological clocks … Lungs are ready for that clean mountain air I’ll soon be enjoying 🙂
Over the past few days, Spencer and I have been working on finishing off some areas of our lower unit, in preparation for our departure and caretaker, and our eventual return. Our 25 year old bathroom was gutted for a remodel on the dime, kitchen cabinets thoroughly power cleaned, and our island cabinets finally set permanently in place after 7 years of slow drifting. Walls will get repainted today, ceilings cleaned …
As I think about all of these things, and have gratefully had Spencer’s assistance for these projects (and I’m sure he would say vice versa), I have been contemplating how intertwined our lives are …
The American dream, for most people, is to go to school, get an amazing job that earns lots of money, get married, maybe have 2.2 children, buy a house on loan, then retire. This surely has been the course my life took, outside of the decision not to bring more children into this world. And I wonder why I never had a role model that offered alternative lifestyles. There are so many!
But for me, it started from the time of shopping for school clothes each year. I didn’t get only one pair of the latest Levi corduroys. No. I had every color that year. Christmas saw an overabundance of toys and gifts. The best that money could buy. A first class college education. Loans for a business. Loans for a house. I never knew that life could be different. The more the merrier, right ??
Where this type of lifestyle lead was a dependance on everyone else for everything that I did. And while I am grateful for everyone’s generosity, as well as my own hard work, that got me to where I’ve been, I was left feeling like there was nothing I could do for myself. This was true in business: I had employees much better than I at technology. At home, I need Spencer to manage our household. I was simply a manager of people and money. And I began to detest it. I wanted something just for me, that was me, that I could offer the world without needing the assistance of someone else.
So I began to learn wordpress. I am self-taught, and it has been a real challenge. But I instinctively knew it held the key to a certain level of freedom. I now have this blog and my food blog. The words are my own, or researched summaries of masters in the field. No one, shy of a cyber attack (which I could fix), can take this away from me. And I’ll tell you what. It feels darn good !!
The struggle I will face, as I go forward, is to manage growth. Manage any notoriety that comes. To not let that take control of my destiny, much like my small little computer consulting practice, which mushroomed into a behemoth. Or my small little seaside home that mushroomed into a small hotel. Can I continue to serve people without my creations spiraling into too much for me to handle ??
I don’t want to live in squalor, but what is enough ?? What is it that will allow each of us to fully express ourselves, without the aid of someone else in the long run. This to me is the definition of longterm happiness, success, and likely mindful prosperity … To live as a sincere human being. Being in service, but not in servitude.
Happy hump day friends, and as always, I welcome your thoughts ❤
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For some beautiful thoughts on success, prosperity and happiness – What Buddhism says about Success:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lewis-richmond/buddhism-success-third-metric-_b_3732140.html
http://www.budsas.org/ebud/ebdha049.htm
