The cars, the houses, the career, the family, the vacations, the meaningful experiences, the titles, the accolades, the bucket list, the prestige, the money, the cottage, the degrees and certifications, the friends, the love, the fame, the good life, the perfect swing, the next iPhone? (I could go on.)
Can we have everything? No. There is simply too much. As the comedian, Stephen Wright, says, “You can’t have everything. Where would you put it?”
And having everything is so not the point. Life constantly presents us with rich possibilities…so many that we could never possibly choose them all. Our job is to choose then pursue the options that honestly feel best. And, though we may seek guidance and insight from others, only we can ever know what’s best for us to choose for ourselves.
Then we have a very full, meaningful life. All the satisfaction we want is in this choosing.
In your corner,
Mike
PS: Of course, knowing what feels good is the trick. We feel it in our bodies. We know when something truly feels good vs. when we merely think it should. We each have one or two feelings that tell us we are on the right track. For me, it’s a tingling up my back and neck.
PPS: We can even choose to have all those things listed above or not, as long as it feels good.
PPPS: Two useful, related measures of success in life: 1) What percentage of my life is chosen? 2) Is that percentage increasing over time?