Like a leaf morphs between August and October, my mind adds color…
That’s the nature of deciduous trees, and minds?
Me: “I should just be grateful! I have so much—more than most—life is comfortable, predictable.”
Him: “I haven’t been comfortable a day in my life.”
Damn, this connection is great at stirring up crisis within me!
Why would anybody choose to be uncomfortable?
What the heck is that about?
I wondered…..
For a long time, my thinking went like this…
We’ve worked hard—built a beautiful home and cultivated a strong family. We no longer fret about our budget, having enough disposable income to go out to dinner on a whim and to fly to San Diego for vacation.
Heck, I can even replace my tennis shoes every six months. Sweet!
We are blessed.
I AM grateful and yet…when he said, “I haven’t been comfortable a day in my life,” I wanted to know more.
Because, despite my comfort, I was restless.
Life had become one routine on top of another.
I’d stopped growing.
And with an ingrained mindset of scarcity and believing money does not grow on trees, I was forever hesitant to dip into our bank account for my personal growth.
Gail—You are living the American Dream.
Be grateful!
Having and Becoming are different?
I mistakenly believed growing myself took something away from somebody else. I also mistakenly believed that growth took money.
Such thinking is/was wrong.
I’ve added value to myself and everyone I touch through openness and exposure to new and different. I can travel anywhere I want through the pages of a book. Online, I’ve connected with people in Asia, Europe, Africa, North/South America, and Australia.
The cost has been little more than a willingness to learn.
Somewhere in childhood I’d set June Cleaver as my apex, and when I’d arrived, my wrong thinking about gratitude obscured the future mountains I might climb.
Always having what we want
may not be the best good fortune.
Health seems sweetest
after sickness, food
in hunger, goodness
in the wake of evil, and the end
of day long labor,
sleep. ~Heraclitus
What’s our lesson?
Keep Becoming!