"If I had a million dollars I would travel around the world." Have you heard this before? Have you said it before? I have, although it wasn't a million, it was millions, probably because I want to travel until I can no longer do so. What this says is that I feel that traveling around the world would make me happy and that money is the only thing standing in the way. If we begin to ask the questions, we will see that it is more than just the money in the way and the truth is, traveling would be awesome, but would it make me happy?
I'm trying to put into context what the book says here because it is asking why do you want to travel and the example give was that they wanted to meet new people, which then can go into you can meet interesting people locally, which leads to achieving this goal without the money and without the traveling. My answers will have a different end result. I want to travel so I can dive and see the different creatures in different parts of the world. (and I love warmer water to dive in) The question could then be there are many places here in the United States that you could dive that have different creatures as well as warmer waters. True, but those aren't the creatures or the adventures that I'm seeking. I guess this just shows that not all solutions work with all problems.
If I had a million dollars I would buy all my relatives a new house and car. So we really want to give them something to make them happy. You don't have to wait for a million dollars, you could buy them something you can afford and they will love it.
If I had a million dollars I'd quit my job and volunteer for meals on wheels. Well, how bought you volunteer a few hours on the weekend to fulfill that dream? Do you see where this is going? We need to stop making excuses (if I had a million dollars) and do what we want to do. Most of the time obstacles are illusions.
We all have excuses for why we can't be happy and we all chase illusions thinking they will make us happy. We don't have to live this way. We can free ourselves from our conditional contentment and be determined to live a happy life today (even if we are lacking things that we think will make us happy.)
1. "What would I really like to do with my life if I had all the money I needed?"
Analyze your answer and try and work out what you are really searching for that you think will make you happy. Now:
2. "What can I do now (given I don't have the money) to live my dream?"
Write down your answers!
Most people have road blocks. This exercise is aimed at getting past the "I can't" and finding the "I can" When we can figure out what we really want (despite the lack of money) we will start to discover that we actually do aim for more than a big bank balance. We have dreams and desires to be a certain type of person or to live a certain lifestyle. We can chase those dreams without the money.
Open up to other possibilities. Problems pop up to test your focus. How committed are you? The more important question is are we sure that is really what we want? Figure out your hurdles and get over them.
Warren, S. 2010, 7 Ancient Keys To Happiness, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
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