I keep on seeing a trend in comments on various blogs, and have even received a few emails and messages with the following theme: I want your life, I am so jealous of your life, how can I have your life. So here is my attempt at briefly explaining how to do this…don’t.
Here’s why.
One of the best tips I ever heard (yes, it was in church) was this: The easiest way to discontentment in life is to compare yourself to others. The moment you start comparing your life to someone else, your body to someone else, your wardrobe, your car, heck, even your food, when you compare ANYTHING, it is the moment you lose focus on all the great things you have and have been blessed with. If you sit and wish for another person’s life, or become infatuated with making your life turn out like someone else’s, you miss out on how great your own life can be and what you can get from it at this very moment.
Amen.
Some of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve seen were over a lake in Iowa, or in the desert in Arizona. Some of the most beautiful days I can remember, involved snow, rain, and things other than white sand. Some of the best runs I’ve gone on were when I was bundled up in Minnesota trotting along the Mississippi River. Some of the most inspiring times, were the lonely, grey days, when I had to dig deep to figure out how to make that day awesome. When I look back, the best waves and surf days…will more than likely be in Hawaii and Moorea. That’s a given.
I know I am sounding like Forrest Gump. But the end of that movie was brilliant.
In terms of work….
Some of the best work days, happened to be the 15 hour ones when I was in a polo shirt and trash juice soaked khakis. To clarify. After I graduated college, I worked on a Golf course, where I cleaned toilets, parked cars, scrubbed golf clubs, and did a whole lot of unglamorous random daily tasks. And that job…rocked my world. So, if you just graduated college, please know that I didn’t get my diploma and hop on a plane straight to the beach.
The point of all this rambling? Never in my life did I actually sit and want someone else’s life. I honestly never have, and promise myself I never will. I just try to figure out how to make life rock, no matter the location, temperature, economic status, or proximity to the beach. It’s not always easy, but it has it’s perks. Like perfecting the art of doing doughnuts in an empty parking lot in a blizzard.
One of the many downsides of social media, reality TV, and all the blogs that are out there, is that it makes it so easy for us to compare ourselves, in so many different ways…every stinking minute.
What I’m getting at is this, please don’t compare your life to mine.
Do I live in an amazing location? Heck yeah. It’s totally normal for anyone to want to live here. I wake up every morning and thank God that I am here. I hope I don’t ever come across as bragging and dangling my life in front of you like bait. It’s actually the complete opposite. I’ve come to grips that I will not be living in Hawaii much longer. So, in a way, this site is as much a virtual scrapbook for me and my time in Hawaii, as it is a way to bring some sunshine, beach lifestyle and paradise to people all over the globe. And I can’t thank you all for the opportunity for me to do that.
But please, pretty please take this one tip of advice.
Don’t want, be jealous of, or wish you had someone else’s life.
Figure out a way to love yours.