We are constantly surrounded by verbal and visual messages that shriek and screech out that our life will be truly perfect if only… we had a better complexion, a better figure and physique, a better house, a better coat of paint on the walls, a better vehicle, a better bank… so and so forth. So many of us fall for the advert bait and barter away the outlook of contentment for the quest of a picture perfect life.
By swaying to the tune of ‘my life would be picture perfect only if…’ our focus on ‘my life’ becomes hazy and the spotlight remains stuck on an elusive picture perfect lifestyle! The essential difference between the two is the real reason for an extended season of discontent. We stray away from taking ownership of our life and play the game of chasing an illusory and imagined happiness.
When we succumb to the ‘my life would be picture perfect only if…’ trap, we lose touch with the reality of the present. And as we lose touch with the present, we disconnect from the attitude of gratitude. Surely, it is difficult to be grateful for what we do not possess. Hence it is necessary to practise being in the present and be grateful for what we have.
Eventually perfect lives are ones where self esteem is positive. And for our self esteem to be fortified, we must be better at practising basic contentment. And basic contentment happens when we take ownership for what we are and what we have. After all, more important than the size, shape and style of the cake, what matters is the way we relish it!
The picture perfect life is an illusion, dude…
Let’s BE BETTER at the attitude of gratitude
- Pravin K. Sabnis
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