Happiness is in the Struggle

Good morning, friends! I hope the weekend was refreshing and relaxing!

We spent most of the weekend curled up on our blue velvet sofa watching Netflix and having big talks about our future. You know those great talks with your S.O. where anything seems possible and how wonderful life will be in x-number of years? New job, new home, more business opportunities? I have to keep reminding myself of two things when we start down that path: 1. dreams are free, and 2. this moment in time is pretty great!

I've recently been reading "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck" and in it, Mark Manson dives into what drives us and where happiness really comes from. He says, it comes from struggle. I didn't necessarily agree when I first read that, but now I'm seeing examples of struggle = happiness everywhere!

"A lot of people are afraid to accept mediocrity because they believe that if they accept it, they'll never achieve anything, never improve, and that their life won't matter.
...
"The rare people who do become truly exceptional at something do so not because they believe they're exceptional. On the contrary, they become amazing because they're obsessed with improvement. And that obsession with improvement stems from an unerring belief that they are, in fact, not that great at all. It's ant-entitlement. People who become great at something become great because they understand that they're not already great--they are mediocre, they are average--and that they could be so much better." - Mark Manson

I know. Mind blown. And it is through this struggle to become better that makes people happy.

For example:

Hubby and I make a point to watch Sunday Morning every, well, Sunday Morning. The segments are heartfelt, poignant, and uplifting. The struggle of the human spirit to overcome life's challenges is the basic takeaway. So every Sunday they devote a segment (or two) to interesting people.

One such segment was on Robert Redford. Throughout his illustrious career he has always been moving; "I'm better when I move. I like movement. I always have". "Trying to be better" could have been his anthem. As he put it,"The only thing that is in place is the trying. That's where the action is." He never felt he was exceptional. He simply worked hard each movie, each directorship, to become better than he did previously. Now that he's retiring from acting, he looks back over his career satisfied and, from my perspective, at ease. It struck me that he must be truly happy because, as Lee Cowen said, "For a man who is so at home in the mountains, it seems he's enjoyed the climb more than the time at the summit".

So that's what drives me every day; be better than I was yesterday. I always know I can be better; take better pictures, write wittier captions, cook a better meal, etc. We all can. It's in the struggle that we find happiness.