Gratitude
This post was born out of a random phone conversation with a friend. It struck me how far-fetched the ideas of happiness and true satisfaction feel to most people today. We’ve been conditioned by a world that normalizes a constant state of wanting, comparing, and eventually, despairing.
The Illusion of “having it all, all the way.”
I’ve realized that I have and have had everything I ever wanted. But here is the secret: Life isn’t about having everything all at once or everything all the time. It is about experiencing a moment in time and having the grace to cherish it forever.
I have been blessed with a wonderful family and great health; I can still run a few miles without breaking a sweat. I’ve had an amazing partner and a successful career. I have enough to never go hungry. The tricky part? Not all of these things came to me at the same time, and not all of them stayed forever. I had a rough childhood, far more traumatic experiences throughout life. Yet, I feel fulfilled. That is a hard concept to grasp when everyone around you is overwhelmed by a world of infinite possibilities. We are trained to compete, to strive, and to achieve one milestone after another in a mad rush. As I wrote a few years ago, happiness is a state of mind.
The power of the pause
Take a pause. Look around. Feel your life, your breath, and yourself. There is so much happening within you that goes unnoticed because you are chasing what is next. I’m not suggesting you abandon your dreams, but I am suggesting a “gratitude break.”
Appreciate the hard work you’ve put in to become the person you are today. Don’t wait for someone else to validate you. Look closely: you likely have things today that you were praying for yesterday. There is no rule saying everything we love must stay with us forever for it to have been meaningful.
Everything is within
Life has given me what I wanted, though often in ways I didn’t expect. I used to focus on the gap between what I lacked and what I had. But things change, and people move on. Instead of mourning the loss, remember the days spent with loved ones; weren’t those experiences incredible? Celebrate them daily. Why must an experience be “forever” to be considered a success?
It’s human to crave more, but if you get stuck in that cycle, you’ll never catch up to yourself, or it will be too late before you realise the lost time. A picture-perfect life would actually be quite boring; it’s the unfulfilled desires that make us feel alive.
Keep your dreams, but don’t lose track of yourself. Rejoice in what was, and live in what is. Stop looking for external completion. Everything you need is already within you. Love yourself first; everything else can wait while you learn to appreciate the person you’ve become.