“To limit our action or inaction to only what’s in keeping with the needs of our own preparation…here is the thing to be prized! If you hold this firmly, you’ll stop trying to get yourself all the other things…If you don’t, you won’t be free, self-sufficient, or liberated from passion, but necessarily full of envy, jealousy, and suspicion for any who have the power to take them, and you’ll plot against those who do have what you prize…But by having some self-respect for your own mind and prizing it, you will please yourself and be in better harmony with your fellow human beings.”
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations.

Enjoying life is about appreciating what you have now. Yearning for the good fortune of a time gone by, or striving to achieve something that is currently out of your reach and in the future is to neglect the present. “I’ll be happy when…” or “If only things were as they used to be…” are thoughts that keep us from living in the moment.

Comparing ourselves with others who have (or don’t have) what we think we need just makes matters worse. Why waste your time today living in the past or in a future that might not happen?

Photo by Isham on Unsplash