Live The Good Life

I will have another birthday very soon. This is certainly not exactly groundbreaking news, except for the fact that it feels like I just recently had a birthday. In fact, it feels like everything is happening faster and faster and that my life is flying by. As one ages, time goes by more rapidly.

If you talk to contemporary children, their perception is that time doesn't go quickly enough. Perception is everything. As adults we all know that the time is the time, yet there is a distinct feeling as we get older that someone, somewhere has speeded things up. We're halfway through the summer and you can already see the back to school signs in the stores and soon the haloween pumpkins will be taking their place.

Added to that is a world that is on Internet time. We get information about everything right as it is happening. There is an inevitability to progress. But history has taught us that not all of it helps to create an evolved species. Many people feel a sense of frustration and a lack of inner peace as a result of the constant bombardment of messages that always have an urgency behind them. This rushed mentality has crept into every facet of our lives. Even pleasure becomes something that must be done quickly because there are other more important issues to attend.

The ultimate irony is that when we remove those things that bring us joy, we become even more stressed. My recent foray into positive psychology has given me new and exciting information as to how we can all feel better about ourselves and the world we live in. We should try to become more conscious of the shortcuts we take to get more pleasure in our lives. For example: Why do we eat fast food instead of taking the time to prepare a good meal? Why do we send someone a store-bought card instead of creating a card or writing a letter?

Why do we watch TV instead of reading a good book?

An over-reliance on shortcuts to pleasure can be a hindrance to happiness. Perhaps it's time not only to stop and smell the roses, but to buy some, bring them home and languish in their beauty and aroma for longer than five minutes. Try to create more sustained satisfaction in your life, it's much more gratifying than checking your mobile phone or email inbox every five minutes to see if you have a message.