I Want It All, And I Want It Now

Last night I read in my Entertainment Weekly magazine that Jesse James and Kat Von D had split. This gave me a good chuckle. When the whole Sandra Bullock/Jesse James story broke I really felt bad for Sandra - her ex was continuously hurting and disrespecting her long after their split by "flaunting" his newly found love and happiness in her face. Sandra always took the high road and remained silent - and now who has the last laugh?

Why is it that society as a whole is always looking for instant gratification? It seems that no one wants to work on things/wait for things any more. The end result? I think it's that no one values things anymore. I know, we are all guilty of it on some level, but so many people are ONLY attracted to the thrill of the ride. Don't get me wrong - there is nothing wrong with riding the roller coaster - but sometimes you need to get off the ride and see all the other things going on at the amusement park.

Are those people who are constantly looking for instant gratification the same people who are always looking for happiness? It makes me wonder. A quote comes to mind ~ "Happiness is like a butterfly; the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and set softly on your shoulder." ~Thoreau.

Now, for those of you who have been paying attention to my posts, I don't necessarily agree with all of the quote. I believe that many of us truly are happy but we just don't know it because we have never defined "what" happiness means to us at this point in our lives.

As we change and grow as individuals our ideals of happiness will change, so you may need to update or modify your happiness list over time, but you may be surprised. If you have listed your "core" values - as opposed to features - your list will seldom changes. I know that making a list is not an easy exercise - it takes some deep introspection to find the core values and it can be quite scary - but I think it is a worthwhile exercise that everyone should try at least once.

Peace