Be happy with what you have,
not sad for what you don't.
This idea has been running through my head since 2010. It is how I decided to look at our trip to Europe. I was so excited to be going to Italy, France, and England. But, I knew we had a limited amount of time and honestly, we could have spent weeks there and not seen everything each city had to offer. So what did we do? We mentally decided to not worry about the stuff we couldn't get to, but be grateful what we could get to.
Florence? Didn't see the David. Paris? Didn't see the Mona Lisa. I know! What were we thinking? We were thinking there's so much to do, let's just take the city in rather than stressing over getting into a museum (did I just say that?!?!?!?).
From that trip forward, I have tried to keep that thought in mind. Be happy with what I do get to do, rather than upset over what I am unable to do. It's amazing what this mindset has done for me overall. I've been much happier with life. It's made me realize there will always be things I will be unable to do, but if I focus on those I will be unhappy. If I focus on what I am fortunate enough to do and experience, life becomes so much more bright and filled with opportunities.
This year my goal is to keep this idea upper most in my mind. I know there will be times when I won't, but all I can do is try. The first few days of the year found me in Jamaica. We consciously decided to not go on any excursions. This of course meant we didn't get to see anything of the area, but it allowed us to just be. Relax. Enjoy each others company. And when we did actually leave the resort, we stopped at Margaritaville for a drink. Sure, we could have taken a shuttle to the famous Rick's Cafe, but you know what? There's always next time. And if there isn't a next time, then I am perfectly happy with the trip we had. No regrets.
So, I started off the year with this thought in mind: Be grateful for what you experience, not upset with what you haven't. Hoping to focus on that all year long.
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