Years ago, I won a book while attending a business building training session through my company. That may not seem like much, and it isn't. Winning a contest when you work for a sales-oriented business is like getting wet when it rains. Eventually, it's impossible to dodge the falling drops, and everyone walks home with a prize to boost their morale and reinforce their type-A competitive personality.
My prize was a thin paperback book containing 246 pages counting the index.
The book "Work Less, Make More" by Jennifer White would sit on my library shelf for several more years before deciding to dust it off and read the pages. I'm thrilled I did. I won't detail the book here, but chances are, if you read my blog articles enough, you will find many references to Jennifer's book.
One quote that caught my attention during my first reading was:
"Work Less, Make More is learning how to love the life that you created. It's your life. It doesn't belong to your spouse, your parents, your teachers, your mentors, your coaches, your bosses, your kids, or anyone else. It belongs to you."
"Make yourself the priority. Take back control." [1]
I wondered over and over if I was truly loving my life? Or was I living a life that belonged essentially to others? Was I doing things I wanted to do or only those that family, company, church, or service clubs wanted me to do? Was I indeed the priority in my own life? Finally, I decided the best way to wrap my head around this concept was to create a list of those things I love in this life:
I love the act of doing
I love accomplishing; finishing
I love succeeding
I love the feeling of flourishing; thriving.
I love living in a state of relaxed ease
I love simple elegance.
I love comfort
I love skiing
I love the crisp mountain air, the crunch of snow under my feet, and the sun on my face.
I love being in places few people will ever go
I love standing on a mountain summit, looking at majestic views.
I love the struggle it took to reach the summit.
I love feeling strong
I love feeling confident
I love understanding
I love wisdom
I love learning
I love the ah-ha moment
I love variety
I love cleanliness
I love organization
I love everything having and being in its place
I love the feel of a motorcycle
I love owning and driving a sports car with power
I love having money
I love having investments
I love having material possessions as long as it doesn't distract me too much.
I love feeling passionate about something
I love my someday/maybe list of dreams
I love checking dreams off one by one
I love the United States of America
I love to travel
I love seeing a diversity of cultures
I've added to the list occasionally over the years, but only sparingly. I tried to leave off the list the obvious family, friends, and the routine knee-jerk reaction kinds of things I love. The index remains essentially as it was on the day I created it. The beauty of the list is it has helped me not to worry so much about whether I love the life I have created.
Reference:
[1] White, Jennifer. Chapter 04 Handle the time machine. *Work Less, Make More: Stop Working so Hard and Create the Life You Really Want!*, John Wiley, 1999. p.94.