Do not indulge in dreams of having what you have not, but reckon up the chief of the blessings you do possess. – Marcus Aurelius
We all have things for which to be thankful. How long is your list?
What does that mean?
This is another Twitter-shortened quote. A more complete version of the quote which is from his book Meditations is: “Do not indulge in dreams of having what you have not, but reckon up the chief of the blessings you do possess, and then thankfully remember how you would crave for them if they were not yours.”
This quote is about being happy with what you have, rather than wishing you had more. To me, this is a critical part of being happy, for in acting contrary to this advice, you will find, with both great regularity and swift certainty, unhappiness.
The longer version reminds us to be thankful for what we have by considering how miserable we would be if we did not have even that small bounty. In short, this quote is about getting our heads straight, and focusing on what is important in our lives.
Why is focusing on what truly matters important?
If we focus on the trinkets we don’t have, happiness will never be ours. That’s really what the quote is saying. To me, those are the wrong things on which to place our focus. We should, instead, be focused on what we have, and what is good in our lives.
Again, if we focus on what we don’t have or what is going wrong in our lives, we will generate our own unhappiness. Even if we are extraordinarily wealthy in friends, love, possessions, and fortune, we will still be miserable. And we will train our brains to seek out those things we do not have, increasing our unhappiness with each new discovery.
We have within us all we need to be happy. This is seen in some of the most hellish locations on this planet, where people in grinding poverty, amidst sickness and disease. But still, happiness is found there. Some of the people recognize how happiness is found, and manage to find it.
Where can I apply this in my life?
If you are reading this, you have access to a computer and the internet, and are better off than probably 75% of the planet. Yes, things are probably less than perfect. There is probably something you want for the holidays that you aren’t going to get.
Yet, somehow, life will go on. There are many things I would like to do for others that I cannot at the moment. I’m not making enough money to give much of it away. I’m so busy making the money I am making that I don’t have much time to give away either.
But I will focus on what I do have, and do what I can to help others get what they need, and to help them focus on what is important in their lives. I could write whole posts on what I had planned to do this year and why, having not achieved these things, I am unhappy. But what good would that accomplish?
By keeping our focus on what is important in our lives, we can manage to remain happy. And that is what I would like to take a moment to consider. What are the things in your life for which you are happy, without which, you would crave?
I don’t have a perfect family. I have disagreements with some of my relatives. We don’t have perfect health. I have some difficulties, and others in my family have more significant challenges. We don’t have as much ‘stuff’ or money as we would like, but then, who ever does.
However, I do have people I love, both in my family, and those friends I have adopted as being family. I have better health than most people my age, and what challenges I have, I welcome as tests of my determination and adaptability. I will never have as much money as I would like, but I always find a way to help others with it, even if it’s only in small amounts.
Grab some paper and write down what it is you are thankful for. What in your life are the blessings you posses, which you would crave if they were not yours? Take a few moments, and see if you don’t feel just a little bit of emotion sweep over you.
When you focus on what you are thankful for, you will find more things you are thankful for, and feel more intensely that thankfulness. At least it works that way for me. How well has it worked for you? Are you feeling a little more thankful than when you started reading this post? I truly hope that you are.
For what are you thankful?
From: Twitter, @SiteOfCites
confirmed at : here , about 3/4 of the way down.
Photo by libookperson
Happy Thanksgiving Day for those in the USA who celebrate this holiday. We remember on this day the celebration some of the first Europeans held to honor their survival and the bountiful harvest, which was due in no small part to help from the locals who had befriended them.
