“Lorie darling’, life in San Francisco, you see, is still just life. If you want any one thing too badly, it’s likely to turn out to be a disappointment. The only healthy way to live life is to learn to like all the little everyday things, like a sip of good whiskey in the evening, a soft bed, a glass of buttermilk, or a feisty gentleman like myself.”
Love this classic line, a gem of wisdom! It’s from one of my favorite actors, Robert Duvall, in one of my favorite shows: “Lonesome Dove”. Life with any condition, or title is still just life. It’s not the condition or title that defines life, it’s you who defines it.
This also reminds me another signature line from a Chinese Classic book” Tea House”: ‘ When you are younger, you are too poor to buy roasted peanuts; when you are older, you have money, but no teeth to enjoy it any more.” It applies to many things in life, enjoy when you can, don’t wait for that perfect moment, it may never come.
A cup of hot steaming coffee with a good read in the morning tastes the same, whether it’s in a castle by the Alps or a cabin in the woods. It’s you, your mindset, taste buds and mood that makes the taste different. That capability is like second nature that shadows you, so does the appreciation and gratitude. Being, not doing, sometimes means to leave your mind empty so it has space to fill with more beautiful things life presents to you, and you are light enough to move and carry more. Don’t chase that perfect moment you framed with many conditions, it’s already perfect. The chase itself will ruin the already perfect present: the present.
When we strip down life, there’s really not much needed. Like a survival kit on an island, even just a mind game: a new start can give you a new outlook on life. It’s like restarting a cellphone or computer, it has to shut down to do the cleansing, to have a fresh start.
Even that little is enough, knowing this, we feel so much richer.