Sometimes it’s hard to be grateful for what you have in your life when you look at others around you and their life seems so …perfect!
Someone else has everything that you want, in the location you want, with the partner you want and the perfect, high achieving kids you want. And even though you know that what they’ve got isn’t perfect (because there is no such thing as perfect) somehow it doesn’t make you feel better about where you are.
So you try to figure out what the difference is … could it be that they have more money than you? …but then if you had a lot of money what would you swap?
· Would you swap your children? No!
· Would you swap your partner? Well maybe, maybe not!
· Would you swap your job? Perhaps
· Would you swap your friends? No
· Would you change some of the habits you currently have? Maybe but only if they’re bad habits
· Would you swap the house you live in? Possibly
· Would you change your body? Well you could pay for surgery but not without potential risks!
Looking at the list above, what would you really, honestly change?
Whatever you would change because you think it would make you happier, you will probably find has nothing much to do with money! The things that really make you happy are the things that money might just give you the courage to do, nothing else. Let’s go through each item listed above;
· Your children – if you are fortunate enough to have them then they are a treasure you would not want to swap for any amount of anything!
· Your partner – if having money would mean you’d leave your partner then all that money is giving you is the confidence to leave them. If your partner isn’t right for you without money then he isn’t right for you with money either. Don’t think he or she will be different if you were wealthy, the core of a person’s beliefs and principles don’t change when you have money, whoever the person is naturally, deep down, will just become animated.
· If you love your job then you will continue to fulfil that purpose in some way, so money does not determine the job that you do and if it does then you’re in the wrong the job!
· Your friends have been found based on basic values that match your own. Your true friends will know you and you will know them based on their actions not on their words. You always know who your true friends are!
· If you have any habits that don’t serve you in a positive, healthy way then they are not generally good for you. You always know what’s right and what’s wrong and having money will never change that choice.
· Living in a bigger house might give you space but it will also feel less cosy! The place you call home is the place you feel relaxed, the place you feel warmth and comfort in and actually, the larger the room, the easier it is to feel lost in the space rather than warm and snug.
· Your body is there to do a function. Any alteration you make does no more than allow you to join the competition to become a more potentially admired person ....temporarily! Anything you do surgically to alter your appearance will carry a risk but the results will always be no more than skin deep.
When we envy the life of others it usually is because they have something we feel we don’t have. Yet if we were to analyse what it is that they have that we don’t, it generally is something superficial. Their house is bigger or neater than ours; their partner is better than ours; their job is better than ours; dare I say their children are better behaved or achieve at a higher level than ours and even more these days, their body is in better shape than ours or they look younger than we do.
Well stop!
If you saw the picture recently of Mr Apple himself – Steve Jobs - then you would see that, despite his millions, many of us are far, far richer than he is right now. Why? Because those of us who are fortunate to have our health are rich beyond our wildest dreams. What’s sad is that we do not know it.
It is with great sadness that we dare to mistake the good fortune of being alive, being capable to love and be loved by another human being, as a less functional quality than looking good, than being famous, than living in a big house or driving an expensive car. And as we look with envy at the good fortune of others, do not forget that the biggest fortune of all lies in the blood that runs through your veins and the health that you are in. The richest person in the world will always be the one in the best of health.
For those who have the misfortune of not having perfect health, understand that there are get well wishes being sent to you by those you love and there will always be a never ending hope that your life will blessed with the joy and love of having the most important people around you.
May good health make you rich and if you have good health, then you already are!
'Wishing you good health' is our message on this small heart dish gift today. It's the richest wish you can make!
Place a photo of a happy memory that makes you smile and keeps your spirits up, wherever you are, with this portable photo frame. 'You Are Loved' is written on the outside of it - lest you forget!
