Do not indulge in dreams of having what you have not but reckon up the chief of blessings you do possess, and then thankfully remember how you would crave for them if they were not yours. -Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
Here's my ailment, friends: I often times will hear people whine and complain about things that are seemingly so unimportant. So minuscule. I'm guilty of it myself from time to time. Why aren't I driving a new car? How come my dog isn't well behaved at the vet? Why can't I afford to go to the Melting Pot for every existing holiday? How come I don't have a banging bod like LeAnn Rimes? Why haven't I taken up semi permanent residence in the Playboy Mansion by now? A, because I'd look terrible as a blond and B, because there's more to life than being hot and rich. (Tell me how crazy that notion just sounded. But let it reverberate in your snazzy brains, friends, because that's some true noise right there.)
Here's what is terrible about envy: it can make you grumpy and naturally, ungrateful for all the wonderful things that you HAVE been given. Before you know it, you've morphed into an unappreciative miser who fails to see all those amazing things that we, as spoiled human beings, are given everyday. Things like waking up in the morning, having shelter and a warm place to rest our heads at night. Things like Publix and their amazing baked goods. (I literally DREAM about their Chicago style Italian loaf with the poppy seed crust.) Or the creation of things like cell phones and wireless Internet, not to mention the convenience they have provided for us. Things like doctors, dentists and emergency medical services, as well as those selfless individuals from the military who fight for us everyday. These things that we literally use everyday. These are some of the things we should consider being thankful for.
Do you consider yourself a blessing or just another person? -Jonathan Anthony Burkett
It's just that in today's world, with the way things are and how easily it is to attain things like money and Marc Jacobs sunglasses, it's easy to get caught up in the "I wish I had more" hype. It's one thing to strive to be better. It's entirely another to feel sorry about the cards you've been dealt and to wish you were someone else.
I notice in myself that unruly tendency to crave another person's fortunate circumstances. That jealously, no matter how much I try to swallow it, will every so often rear its ugly head. More especially in my dreaded younger days, I would very seriously wonder to myself things like: Why aren't I skinny? Why won't that guido marine just be my boyfriend? Why don't I have straight hair? Why don't I have a Master's degree?
You trick yourself into believing that if you just have all these stupid little things, your life would be perfect. Some kind of deluded and nonexistent euphoria. I hate myself when I think about how ungrateful I was (and still can be sometimes) in my youth. And I think to myself, how thankful I am that I didn't get all of those things I thought I desired because then who knows how I may have turned out.
Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are. -Marilyn Monroe
A few weeks ago, I was going through a bit of a rough patch. Nothing serious. It was just one of those times where literally everything that could go wrong in my life, did at exactly the same time. I was feeling really overwhelmed one morning and my very talkative mother called me. (You remember her: the fast talking German from Chicago.) I wasn't very pleasant to her because I was feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders. I was grumpy, stressed out and not in the mood to engage her sometimes charming neuroses.
"What's up, Mom?" I grumbled, trying to hide the fact that I was trying to rush her off the phone. "My friend Leesa," she spoke through tears and took a ragged breath, "was killed in a car accident last night on the way to our staff Christmas party. Her daughter was with her and was also killed."
Immediately, my heart softened as I thought about Leesa's two surviving children and husband. Not to mention the countless other people, like my mother, who would be left scared by her absence. Also not to mention the looming, lonesome holidays that were rapidly approaching. "I was wondering," my mom tearfully continued, "if you could help me write her eulogy." Of course, I agreed. It was the very least I could do.
Moral of the Crazy: As cliche as this is going to sound, whenever my life appears to be falling apart, something always happens to remind me of how blessed I truly am. So don't take the normal, everyday, seemingly little things for granted. And that includes things like your friends and more importantly, your family. The Golden Rule should be rewritten to read: Be thankful.
So count your blessing, friends. I promise you'll have more than you could have ever asked for.
Mine are as follows:
1. My loving husband and the furbabies.
2. My crazy family who I wouldn't trade for the sanest people on earth.
3. My friends.
4. My job and education.
5. My blogger inspiration, Elizabeth Jayne Liu and the slew of musicians I've looked up to my entire life.
6. Instant coffee packets and my heart, Starbucks.
7. The beach and most alcohols, specifically triple distilled Irish whiskey.
8. Pretty panties.
9. And by far, the most important: the birth of Marvin Gaye, Ray Charles, Joss Stone, John Legend, Amy Winehouse and also, the collaboration of the Earth, Wind and Fire...
Keep smiling because life is a beautiful thing and there's so much to smile about. -Marilyn Monroe
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