One thing I know about happiness is that it comes from the narrative of our life. The story we tell ourselves. But too often, we let others write that story for us. Unhappiness and discontent inevitably follow. The only person who can write the story of your life properly is you. In order to change our narrative to an authentic one, one we write ourselves, we must change our perspective, and thus our perceptions of our world. This is not a new idea. Plato explained it in “Allegory of the Cave” over 2,300 years ago. A small change in perception can mean a huge change in what we see. And changing how we see lets us write a new narrative. The Dalai Lama also explores this idea of the relationship between perception and a good life in his book The Art of Happiness (99¢ in the remainder bin . . . maybe you can buy happiness after all!).
I was pushing my cart down the cereal aisle when I became aware of a specific drum pattern playing overhead on the Wal-Mart radio network. I had to stop and listen carefully but sure enough it was the military beat intro to Jefferson Airplane’s song, “White Rabbit.” I shook my head in disbelief. A company […]
Recently, I almost killed a young man not once, not twice, but three times. And all in the space of five minutes. It was a Monday morning and the sun was low in the sky making my eastward commute more difficult. As usual, I turned onto Las Vegas Street. After traveling a block or two,
It had been a long day. First a visit to Grandma and Grandpa and then a trip to the mall to buy school clothes. It was late, dark, and we still had twenty minutes before we would reach home. Mark, age eight, in his booster seat, and Paul, age four, in his safety seat were
It was midafternoon and the Sonoran desert had warmed up enough to force me to shed my coat. The December sky was clear, and the nearby ocean provided a rhythmic white noise in the background. I was accompanied by my new wife and former college roommate; we were getting a tour of the research facility
Who You Calling a Shrimp? Read More »
I was working on my weekly calendar when the library clerk approached me. “So what do you think about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie getting divorced?” he asked. “I don’t give a flip,” I answered. I wanted to say something else, but I promised my boss I’d clean up my language around the inmates. He
Brangaleewhydoucare??? Read More »
Mother Teresa was granted sainthood recently. The speed and manner in which it occurred ruffled the feathers of some Catholics who know and value the normal sainthood process. But when a pope is pushing a cause, things get done, formalities be damned. As a recovered Catholic, I shouldn’t care a whit. But I do. Teresa
Trying to Justify Mother Teresa’s Sainthood Read More »