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A better life has been achieved when we are no longer trying to achieve a better life. It means that we are content, as we should be, with ourselves and what we have. To be anxious for more or to envy someone else’s life or possessions is self-defeating. We are then in a constant state of frustration, always hoping and waiting for more happiness.

So what is important? Enough, not more.

“Think of what you have rather than of what you lack. Of the things you have, select the best and then reflect how eagerly you would have sought them if you did not have them.” – Marcus Aurelius (121-180)

There is, here and now, much to appreciate. There is life itself with friends, family, and everything that is naturally before us. We just have to look around and take it in. Perhaps it is time to make a list of all the good things we have to grateful for.

Are there people in your life that you would miss dearly if they were not here? When you go for a walk don’t you see, hear, and smell, many things to appreciate and feel nice about? Like the flowers, trees, birds, and the clouds in the sky. A caterpillar crossing the sidewalk or your neighbor waving. A cute pup or child enthusiastically enjoying that moment in life.

“Whether in favor or in humiliation, be not dismayed. Let your eyes leisurely look at the flowers blooming and falling in your courtyard. Whether you leave or retain your position, take no care. Let your mind wander with the clouds folding and unfolding beyond the horizon.” – Hung Tzu-ch’eng (1593-1665)

It just makes good sense to be satisfied and at peace with yourself and others, and to enjoy life now.

© Read Ken McIsaac’s 32 KEYS About Life at www.32keys.com or his articles on marketing and consumerism at www.axiom.ws/unethical/

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“How did you see your path in life so early?” I’ve been asked, a number of times.

If I have, or if it seems I have, it’s probably because I read widely, and various insights and quotations stick with me, and I’ve used them for guidance.

One of them comes from the Edward Albee play: “The Zoo Story.”

Jerry, a key character, is lecturing someone who is sitting on a bench in New York’s Central Park.

Suddenly, he blurts out, “Sometimes you have to go a long distance out of your way to come back a short distance, correctly.”

While this notion may not seem earthshaking on the surface, I promise you, if you review your own life, you’ll appreciate the wisdom in it.

For instance, on more than one occasion I’ve left a job, or even a major career focus, only to return to it later. The second time around, my eyes are wide open, and I’m seeing and appreciating things that I just didn’t catch, at first.

Perhaps I wasn’t ready for the task, initially, or I just wanted to go back to discern if my judgments about it were correct, initially.

Anyway, it seems like an offbeat way of living, but there’s satisfaction in it.

What about those souls who hop from job to job, seemingly without focus, yet something happens to them and they see a thread in their experience, something that unifies it and gives it coherence.

Many public speakers have had this occur in their lives. They were just moseying along when something special happened, perhaps a UFO abduction, or an epiphany came to them.

And then, they just had to tell the world about it.

Observers ask them, “Why didn’t you just go into speaking straight away?” or “Imagine how much better off you’d be today if you had launched your oratorical career, earlier!”

Or, think about the person who grows up in a small town, can’t wait to leave for the big city; does it, spending the better part of his life there, yet returns in middle age to the place of his roots.

Life doesn’t always work neatly, in a linear way.

Sometimes you just have to go a long distance out of your way to come back a short distance, correctly!

Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone® and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service, and the audio program, “The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable,” published by Nightingale-Conant. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide. A Ph.D. from USC’s Annenberg School, a Loyola lawyer, and an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School at Claremont Graduate University, Gary offers programs through UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations from Santa Monica to South Africa. He holds the rank of Shodan, 1st Degree Black Belt in Kenpo Karate. He is headquartered in Glendale, California, and he can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com. For information about coaching, consulting, training, books, videos and audios, please go to =>http://www.customersatisfaction.com

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