During the holidays, it’s easy to overindulge in the wrong things. This is why some of us have ulcers and bad skin and our knees hurt. Because we try so hard to enjoy ourselves and be happy. But this logic is screwy.
It’s like eating cheesecake to lose weight or shaving your head to condition your hair. The way you do anything is the way you do everything.
This should come as no surprise. We’ve all been brainwashed. We’re living in a world that tells us the best things come to those who wait, that hard work will pay off someday, and that if you really want it, get it at whatever cost.
This makes us over commit, eat too many potato chips, and watch sitcoms to remind us of the simple life with easy narratives. We’ve been fooled. We behave as if life is an all-night arcade. We try our luck on the slot machines and bounce over to pinball then hit the roulette table and lose it all on blackjack.
I think it’s more straightforward than that. If you want love, be loving. If you want lightness, be lighter. And if you want peace, be peaceful. Life becomes easier when we find grace between what we want and who we are. Then that great Berlin Wall we’ve erected comes crumbling down, tension dissolves, and suddenly random acts of kindness aren’t an action item. They are spontaneous. They are for free.
