Last night was Friday night. There was a time when I would have been sad because I didn't have plans. But not now. Now the freedom to do nothing is blissful. I could have showered after my work out, put on make up and heels and gone trolling for company, I'm an adult and have that right. But I chose, wisely, to take my best friend, Ninja (my collie/shepard) for an extra long walk in the park, finished reading "Gone Girl" and had hot tea with my neighbor while watching Rachel and Ross's first kiss one more time on my favorite "Friends" episode. In this time and space of my life it was the perfect Friday night.
I'm meeting my daughter for coffee at 2:00pm, then off to meet a friend for some peanut butter porter at my favorite local brewery. I'm 55 years old and I think for the first time in my life I am at peace with my status in this human race. My purpose may not be to solve the world's problems, write the great American novel, or find my true soul mate. Maybe my purpose is simply to be happy. What if it really is that simple? How many wars would end, divorces prevented, murders undone, if we all just chilled the freak out and took in a deep breath of oxygen.
Tick Tick Tick. We live by the clock. Time to get up. Time for work. Time for the meeting. Time for lunch. Time to go home. Time to pay rent. Time to make dinner. Time for bed. What happens in between the ticking of the clock can get wasted, ignored, forgotten. But it's those minutes in between that we should cherish. Stop the clock and let time stand still for just a bit while you breath it all in.
So here is the question to ask yourself - what would you rather do? If you weren't doing the thing you are doing right now, what would that thing be? I made a date with someone recently that I really don't enjoy being with. As I was complaining about it to my friend last night she gave me great advice. "Don't do things you don't want to do." Brilliant. Simple. Sometimes impossible. But it's a good guideline to follow for things you don't HAVE to do, for situations that you can control. We HAVE to do many things we don't want to do (work, pay bills, etc.) so for those situations where we actually have a choice, choose to be happy. Choose to do things you WANT to do.
Let's give it a try and see how that impacts our mood for the next few weeks. Let me know how it goes for you and I'll update you with my progress. I'm going to start right now by choosing to have another cup of coffee.
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