With all of this talk lately about healthy living and using your life to live each day to it's highest potential it begs the question... "Are we really living our best lives.?"
It is so easy to answer this question with a resounding YES! Of course that is the answer we want to give. Of course we want to be using every moment of our lives to the greatest possible use and enjoyment. The real question though is what is holding us back from living out our dreams? Whether the dream is a job, a possession or travel, what binds us from having those dreams come to fruition? More commonly than not, the number one answer I get when I ask this question is that the need to earn money somehow always comes between the dream and reality.
Imagine for a moment if money wasn't an object. Imagine if your bills were paid, you had all of your basic needs met... would you still feel like money was an object between you and that job, that car, or that extended fishing vacation? Imagine for a minute that you redefined what was a need in your life and what is a want. What if you realized that what you thought you needed is actually what you have come to believe you need vs. your actually needs. Society has an amazing way of imposing needs upon us when really all we really need are basic essentials, our family, our friends and our own sense of need vs. want. There are so many demands placed upon via society, social media, and advertising, that if we bought into all of these demands we would all be blond haired, barbie dolls, driving convertables that very few of us can afford, all the while dressed in one designer label after another.
Don't get me wrong. I love beautiful things. I love many designer wares, but I love them because they are well made and I will likely own them forever which means they are made with amazing quality and are classic designs. Yes, I love some of these brands. No, I cannot afford many of them and yes, there have been moments where the thought of having them reigned supreme over the reality that I did not need them. I have recently come into a place of happy medium that I am very comfortable with. It took me long enough to figure it out, but it's true that there are many other high end brands, and designer names that have nothing to do with the initials, LV, CC, or YSL. There are gorgeous well made things in the world that may not last me forever, but will easily get me through the next ten years. Just long enough for my preferences to redefine themselves if they wish.
In this revelation, my family and I have found a way to find more balance between wants and needs and where and how to invest our means accordingly. No we will not be heading to the runways of Paris this year to personally hand pick next falls collection that I will be wearing, no, instead I will be heading back to my closet to revisit last year's gear that served me quite well then and will do so again I am sure. With this concession and many others like it, we have found a way to take ourselves out of society's grasp and have willed ourselves the luxury of 'unplugging' from this ever present race we all find ourselves in. Even if this reprieve is temporary, it is a starting place to grow from and it gives me hope that the simplicity that I have craved in my life is one step closer to living a more authentic life, and one step farther away from 'needing'.
I hope this post encourages you to take inventory of what it is that has eluded you and to find a way to manifest it in your own life. We all have it in us to live our dreams, it is more about determining when is the right time for ourselves to claim that dream once and for all. In the meantime, this will be my last post for a while. Carpe Diem.
Gone Fishin',
t.
It is so easy to answer this question with a resounding YES! Of course that is the answer we want to give. Of course we want to be using every moment of our lives to the greatest possible use and enjoyment. The real question though is what is holding us back from living out our dreams? Whether the dream is a job, a possession or travel, what binds us from having those dreams come to fruition? More commonly than not, the number one answer I get when I ask this question is that the need to earn money somehow always comes between the dream and reality.
Imagine for a moment if money wasn't an object. Imagine if your bills were paid, you had all of your basic needs met... would you still feel like money was an object between you and that job, that car, or that extended fishing vacation? Imagine for a minute that you redefined what was a need in your life and what is a want. What if you realized that what you thought you needed is actually what you have come to believe you need vs. your actually needs. Society has an amazing way of imposing needs upon us when really all we really need are basic essentials, our family, our friends and our own sense of need vs. want. There are so many demands placed upon via society, social media, and advertising, that if we bought into all of these demands we would all be blond haired, barbie dolls, driving convertables that very few of us can afford, all the while dressed in one designer label after another.
Don't get me wrong. I love beautiful things. I love many designer wares, but I love them because they are well made and I will likely own them forever which means they are made with amazing quality and are classic designs. Yes, I love some of these brands. No, I cannot afford many of them and yes, there have been moments where the thought of having them reigned supreme over the reality that I did not need them. I have recently come into a place of happy medium that I am very comfortable with. It took me long enough to figure it out, but it's true that there are many other high end brands, and designer names that have nothing to do with the initials, LV, CC, or YSL. There are gorgeous well made things in the world that may not last me forever, but will easily get me through the next ten years. Just long enough for my preferences to redefine themselves if they wish.
In this revelation, my family and I have found a way to find more balance between wants and needs and where and how to invest our means accordingly. No we will not be heading to the runways of Paris this year to personally hand pick next falls collection that I will be wearing, no, instead I will be heading back to my closet to revisit last year's gear that served me quite well then and will do so again I am sure. With this concession and many others like it, we have found a way to take ourselves out of society's grasp and have willed ourselves the luxury of 'unplugging' from this ever present race we all find ourselves in. Even if this reprieve is temporary, it is a starting place to grow from and it gives me hope that the simplicity that I have craved in my life is one step closer to living a more authentic life, and one step farther away from 'needing'.
I hope this post encourages you to take inventory of what it is that has eluded you and to find a way to manifest it in your own life. We all have it in us to live our dreams, it is more about determining when is the right time for ourselves to claim that dream once and for all. In the meantime, this will be my last post for a while. Carpe Diem.
Gone Fishin',
t.
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