If you had a magical wand, what would you wish for?
At times it may seem easier to know what we don't want, rather than what we do want.
"What do you want" she asks exasperatingly, "I don't know!" he answers, "I just know that I want more". "More what?" she retorts. "I don't know, all I know is that I want more" he answers as he leaves the room.
At times there can be a longing in the depth of our beings for something "more", but every time we try to define what that "more" is, it becomes an elusive dance of shadowy figures. Always there, but not substantial enough to be caught.
Unable to fall asleep she starts to ask herself: "Is this it, is this all there is? Is this what I wanted my life to be?"
Perhaps you knew what you wanted, but now when you have those things, there's still this nagging sense of something missing. Is it possible that it is not the attaining of what we desire/want that drives us but rather the desiring/wanting itself? A burning desire/want for something at times can help us to stay focused, give us a sense of meaning and purpose, so after we have achieved the desired outcome, then what?
We find something else to desire/want and it all begins again.
Howard Hughes, an American business magnate, investor, aviator, film maker, aerospace engineer, and philanthropist, a man with an impressive array of achievements; at his death was barely recognisable. On reading of his many entrepreneurial achievements, I found a man with a goal conscious mind, but Howard Hughes, a celebrated and at one time one of the most visible men in America, somehow still managed to become "invisible" to the extent that at his autopsy fingerprints from the FBI had to be used to identify his body. "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his own soul?" springs to mind. Perhaps in the pursuit of "gaining" there is a risk of losing ones core being.
When it comes to acquiring material things, or accolades and favour with others, after a while it may all become shadow images with no substance. After all, one can only drive one car, sleep in one house, be, in one place at the time, and what people say to us face to face may differ greatly from what is said when our backs are turned. Things can be broken, stolen, rust, blow away in a hurricane, float away in a flood, etc. and people can change their minds and find favour with someone else.
Statistics has shown that people living in poverty and people of great wealth have one thing in common; stress. Struggling for survival and having needs met poses a health risk as apparently also does having it all and keeping it. What we all have in common though whether poor or rich, is our choice of attitude towards our situation. Seems one can be wealthy materialistically yet be poor in "happiness", and poor materialistically yet wealthy in "happiness". (According to statistics again) Regardless of status however, there is always an "I" involved and that "I" has the power and freedom to choose his/her attitude to the situation in which he/she finds him/herself.
(I need to say here that I am not including refugees of any kind, or people struggling for life living in disaster areas.)
The fact that we have the power to choose our attitude towards what is happening in our lives, is Good news, well, in my opinion...:)
Perhaps if we have a nagging sense of something missing, we may be better off investigating the reason behind it, not ignore it but try to verbalise it. Ask questions. When do I feel like this, why do I feel like this, do I have an unfulfilled need, what do I need to do to facilitate this need, will pursuing what I want hurt others, if I get what I need/want, what will the cost to my family be? These are just some suggestions of questions that may be of assistance, you may have others you feel are more suited to your situation.
"Everything can be taken from a man or a woman but one thing: the last of human freedoms to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."
(Victor Frankl)
"Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens".
(Kahlil Gibran)
"We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude".
( Charles R. Swindoll)
The "magic wand" it seems, is our attitude.
(ps. The painting is called "American Geisha")
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