The past week has been 'different' for a number of reasons, primarily because I went to my sons' home for Thanksgiving dinner. No biggie you say, well then you haven't read many of my postings otherwise you would know I definitely do not do well around groups of people especially when some of them I do not personally know. In any event despite my trepidation I went and you know what.... it was a very enjoyable get-together.
I bring this up because many of us feel 'comfortable' doing some things while not-so-much doing others. We have this personal comfort zone of things that make us happy and we do not stray or try new things. My daughter-in-law and a friend in Alaska motivated me to break this mold I have as far as not wanting to be in social situations with strangers and it worked out surprisingly well and I hereby thank them for their encouragement. I have also found out that as one gets older one has more of these 'safe zones' and looking back at Thursday's encounter I believe we should all try and broaden that comfort zone.
Now lets look at Black Friday which to me is a totally inane concept. Yes there may be a small number of unbelievably great 'must have' items on sale at a ridicules price but unless you join the herd of crazies waiting in line for their limited number you will not get that must have item. But do you truly need that new 'must have' item? Has advertising created a monster by making us think we are not worth anything unless we have what our neighbors have or something even better? Why can't we be satisfied with what we have and just sit back and enjoy the many news videos of the cattle like rushes when the stores open?
I have long ago forgone the desire to be part of that crush of humanity of black Friday shoppers and now only deal with my everyday temptations of 'must have' things. However to me my must have things usually entail food. Yes I have walked down the isle while shopping and stopped and warmly caressed the cool pie plate of a fresh baked cheesecake and have pushed my shopping cart past the many packages of chocolate and cookies but like my aversion to the swarms of people shopping on black Friday I pass by or put down those tempting offerings.
I bring this up because many of us feel 'comfortable' doing some things while not-so-much doing others. We have this personal comfort zone of things that make us happy and we do not stray or try new things. My daughter-in-law and a friend in Alaska motivated me to break this mold I have as far as not wanting to be in social situations with strangers and it worked out surprisingly well and I hereby thank them for their encouragement. I have also found out that as one gets older one has more of these 'safe zones' and looking back at Thursday's encounter I believe we should all try and broaden that comfort zone.
Wouldn't life be much better
if we could be satisfied with what we have,
and might not we also
be happier with ourselves
if we broadened our horizons
just a little?
if we could be satisfied with what we have,
and might not we also
be happier with ourselves
if we broadened our horizons
just a little?
