O 2 B Happy
What is happiness? Is it a new car? Is it fame, wealth, sex, peace of mind? Is it having fun? Maybe it's getting your boss off of your back. Maybe it's having a mistress to take your mind off of your miserable marriage. Maybe it's getting that promotion and the recognition that comes with it. Ya think? To quote the writer of the book of ecclesiastes: they're "All Vanities".
Vanities as the dictionary defines it:
The quality or condition of being vain.
Excessive pride in one's appearance or
accomplishments; conceit.
See Synonyms at conceit.
You see King Solomon (the suspected writer of the old testament book Ecclesiastes) had wealth and fame beyond yours or my imagination. In his book he talks about what he did to try and find meaning to life. He talks of his manions, money, concubines (mistresses) acheivements and referred to them all as "Vanities". He realized that his only real purpose for being on this earth was to have a close relationship with God.
I agree, but feel Solomon's summary was incomplete. I believe that God put us here with a unique and individual purpose. To be happy and to become. To become what? To become what only we can be. As great a guitarist as Stevie Ray Vaughan was, or Eddie Van Halen is; they'll never be me. (and visa versa) I have my own unique God given sound. Nobody can play Ace Andres riffs like Ace Andres. Nobody will ever play Eddie Van Halen riffs as good as Eddie.
Einstein once said, "Everybody is a genius at something". "If you judge a fish by his ability to climb a tree, he'll go on thru life thinking he's a failure".
So what are we here for? To find that perfect complete person that you were meant to be and become it. What is that perfect complete person? It's the person you've become once you've found a way to combine your passion, special talent and needs. What then is happiness? It's ANYTHING you DO that takes you in the direction of that goal. Just knowing who that potential person is will make you happy. Matthew Kelly calls it the "best version of yourself".
This life is oh so short. Most of us will live less than 100 years. From the day we're born, we start our journey towards death. We wander aimlessly thru life worrying about needs. So we get meaningless jobs that pay us money. Life amounts to a simple equation for most of us:
Life = Time/work x (Money - expenses)
Your life is simple. Your focus is on survival. You convert time into money and give it to others so you can have a roof over your head, food in the fridge and strings for your guitar. (or wheels on you car etc....)
Then you wake up one day in intensive care and wonder where your life went. But every breath you take of every second of every day is a chance to start your life over.
I subscribe to a different formula.
1. Discover what your God given talent is. We all have one. Someone in your life has told you that you are great at something. It's something you do that makes you lose track of the time.
2. Review your needs. Rent/mortgage food etc......
3. list the opportunities in that field and find a way to combine them all so you can work in a field you love and get paid for it.
Stevie Ray Vaughan was working at a burger stand. One night he was told to clean the grease vats. He was standing on top of a huge 50 gallon barrel of grease (from the deep fat fryers) when the lid broke and Stevie fell into the barrel of grease up to his armpits. He said at that point "This is enough of this shit I'm gonna play guitar for a living".
If you become the person God wants you to become. You are then doing God's will. And God didn't design everyone to be missionaries or preachers or nuns or elders. But he did give you a special blessing. My biggest fear in Life is to be standing at the Pearly Gates and have to answer why I neglected the special endowments God blessed me with.
Find out who you need to become. Work on becoming that person. Then know happiness.
Ace out................
Vanities as the dictionary defines it:
The quality or condition of being vain.
Excessive pride in one's appearance or
accomplishments; conceit.
See Synonyms at conceit.
You see King Solomon (the suspected writer of the old testament book Ecclesiastes) had wealth and fame beyond yours or my imagination. In his book he talks about what he did to try and find meaning to life. He talks of his manions, money, concubines (mistresses) acheivements and referred to them all as "Vanities". He realized that his only real purpose for being on this earth was to have a close relationship with God.
I agree, but feel Solomon's summary was incomplete. I believe that God put us here with a unique and individual purpose. To be happy and to become. To become what? To become what only we can be. As great a guitarist as Stevie Ray Vaughan was, or Eddie Van Halen is; they'll never be me. (and visa versa) I have my own unique God given sound. Nobody can play Ace Andres riffs like Ace Andres. Nobody will ever play Eddie Van Halen riffs as good as Eddie.
Einstein once said, "Everybody is a genius at something". "If you judge a fish by his ability to climb a tree, he'll go on thru life thinking he's a failure".
So what are we here for? To find that perfect complete person that you were meant to be and become it. What is that perfect complete person? It's the person you've become once you've found a way to combine your passion, special talent and needs. What then is happiness? It's ANYTHING you DO that takes you in the direction of that goal. Just knowing who that potential person is will make you happy. Matthew Kelly calls it the "best version of yourself".
This life is oh so short. Most of us will live less than 100 years. From the day we're born, we start our journey towards death. We wander aimlessly thru life worrying about needs. So we get meaningless jobs that pay us money. Life amounts to a simple equation for most of us:
Life = Time/work x (Money - expenses)
Your life is simple. Your focus is on survival. You convert time into money and give it to others so you can have a roof over your head, food in the fridge and strings for your guitar. (or wheels on you car etc....)
Then you wake up one day in intensive care and wonder where your life went. But every breath you take of every second of every day is a chance to start your life over.
I subscribe to a different formula.
1. Discover what your God given talent is. We all have one. Someone in your life has told you that you are great at something. It's something you do that makes you lose track of the time.
2. Review your needs. Rent/mortgage food etc......
3. list the opportunities in that field and find a way to combine them all so you can work in a field you love and get paid for it.
Stevie Ray Vaughan was working at a burger stand. One night he was told to clean the grease vats. He was standing on top of a huge 50 gallon barrel of grease (from the deep fat fryers) when the lid broke and Stevie fell into the barrel of grease up to his armpits. He said at that point "This is enough of this shit I'm gonna play guitar for a living".
If you become the person God wants you to become. You are then doing God's will. And God didn't design everyone to be missionaries or preachers or nuns or elders. But he did give you a special blessing. My biggest fear in Life is to be standing at the Pearly Gates and have to answer why I neglected the special endowments God blessed me with.
Find out who you need to become. Work on becoming that person. Then know happiness.
Ace out................
posted by Ace at
3:38 PM
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