Step 30 – The Grass Is Greener…
I believe I wrote about the thing I am about to discuss before on Just Like NY, but I think it’s important enough to talk about it again. I bet everyone knows the quote: “The grass is greener on the other side of the fence”. I’m guilty of thinking this way myself and I have this moment every once in a while when it hits me that I’m doing that again. It doesn’t only concern the place I live in. I’ve never regretted that I live in NY (Hell, no! there wasn’t a single day that I regretted my decision to live in the Big Apple!), but like everyone, I have these tendencies to forget how much I already have. I visited California a month ago for the first time and caught myself thinking that maybe I should move over there right away because it’s an amazing place. And I had to pinch myself because the place I live in right now is also amazing! (It’s one of the most remarkable cities in this world!). And suddenly I just forgot about “wanting something different”. This is a disease of our times – we keep wanting something different because we think it’ll make us happier. We started believing that the best thing for us is still “out there”. And it doesn’t matter how much you have right now, where do you live, or what your bank account shows. And sometimes you’re right – there are better things out there for you, there’re better places to live in, better ways to live your life and there’re better guys to be with. And I will always encourage you guys to try out those new things because you just never know what’s best for you. But before you make a decision, sit down and think – what does “better” mean? Better for others, or better for you? Will the thing you crave really benefit you? Will it make your life better, or will it just make it different? And why do you think “different” means “better”? What’s wrong with the situation you are in right now? Are you unhappy, or do you just think you “need more”? Even if you’re unhappy in the place you live in right now, moving out it’s not always a solution – because you’re taking yourself with you. The thing that bothers you will follow you, make no mistake about that. You better deal with that first, before you move out. Changing the surrounding will usually not solve your problem; it might even make things worse.
Maybe your situation is not bad at all, and you just create problems in your head? Do you know what is it that you want? Maybe this is a problem? Maybe your mind is running around and you’re constantly coming up with new ideas for yourself and you end up not knowing what is it that you’re missing? Maybe the only thing that you’re missing is yourself? Maybe once you connect with yourself again, you’ll finally find the peace inside you’ve been looking for.
I decided to travel because I know that life is just too short to postpone things. And by travel I don’t mean going on a plane and visiting exotic countries (that’s my goal, too), but just to see what’s an hour or two hours away from the place I live in right now. Sometimes you don’t have to change everything to notice what’s important for you. Sometimes all it takes is to go somewhere for a day and open your eyes to completely change your perspective.
Then, when you come back, you somehow can appreciate your life more, you start focusing on what you already have. When you think of it – there are enormous amount of things that you can be grateful for right now, but in order to see them, you have to leave your head once in a while and start not just to look, but to actually see things around you.
