Perfect imperfecions.

 Trials and tribulations: Humans, we love drama. Sure we like to pretend that we don’t but we get bored without it. Adam and eve lived in paradise but could not stand it. The temptation for adventure was too great. According to the “Original sin” we just don’t like perfection. It bugs us. Don’t believe me, think of your pet peeves. You know those petty inconsequential things that enrage you. I’m not afraid to admit perpetually perky people bug the crap out of me. Sometimes if I’m in a bad mood I don’t want to be cheered up. I want to sulk and vent, thank you very much, so I feel as if peppy bastards can take that sunshine and stick it up their ass.

  Sure it’s petty but I’m okay with that and I’m sure you’re petty at least a few times a year as well. Which proves that if there is no drama in our lives we’ll make some up. It’s why we pray, meditate and seek therapist for peace, it doesn’t come natural to us. I’d even go so far as to say it’s our petty grievances that shape our unique personalities. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t encourage pettiness. In fact hypocritically it’s one of my biggest pet peeves (go figure). I also can’t stand hypocrites. I could slap myself right now.

  Consider this though. Those close to us, who really care for us, eventually end up challenging our petty bullshit. Which in turn forces us into self-reflection so that we can face the bigger issues that cause our trivial grievances. There’s always some repressed reason inconsequential thing bugs us which is why we go to extreme lengths to avoid them. Like if you hate the sound of whistling but refuse to deal with the father who whistled every day when he came home from work until the day he never came home. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing though. Just as darkness defines the light the things that make us unhappy define what makes us happy. Which leads us to our desires.

Desire: People often think obtaining what they desire goes hand in hand with happiness. That’s dead wrong. Which is why the highest suicide rates occur in the wealthiest neighborhoods. You heard me right. More rich people commit suicide than the homeless, you know the portion of society who are considered to have nothing and no one yet still heroically manage to maintain the will to live.  I’m believer that one can learn things from the most unlikely places. What we can learn from the homeless is that happiness is not circumstantial. It’s a choice. So if you have it in your mind that it takes certain things or certain people to make you happy you’re dead wrong.

  Which is self-reflection is doubly important. It is through self-reflection that we find contentment. Of course there will always be things in life we want to gain or change but stressing over them doesn’t change a damn thing. It actually stops one from practicing effective problem solving. As infuriating as it seems once we stop needlessly stressing over even our worst problems we find the freedom of mind to find solution. It’s about thinking about the solution instead of the problem. But most importantly it’s about contentment. Which brings us to our third point.

Compliancy: What is the difference between contentment and compliancy? How do you know if you’re content or settling? The answer is a combination of our two earlier points, knowing what you like and what you don’t like. What is it that YOU truly desire? Not what the world says you should desire, be that your parents, friends or mentors. You are the only one who has to live with the decision you make. I know some of you with children may disagree but your children are just a greater extension of yourself. So of course you must shelter feed and clothe yourself and the people that depend on you but how you do so is your choice. In this day and age we forget that wealth and glamour have not always gone hand and hand. A man who had to sacrifice his own personal desires to care for his family by becoming a janitor can still dream of and accomplish greater dream. Whether that’s by opening his own cleaning business or becoming an actor like my one of my own personal heroes Terry Cruz.  Either way it’s the difference between contentment and compliancy is Y-O-U!

Learn more about the correlation between wealth and suicide in this fascinating article in the times. Link below.

http://business.time.com/2012/11/08/why-suicides-are-more-common-in-richer-neighborhoods/