2972: Be Happy Now by Jenny Lee of Hello Brio on Being Content and Appreciating What You Have

[00:00:00] This is Optimal Living Daily Episode 2972 Be Happy Now by Jenny Lee of HelloBrio.com and I'm Justin Malik, your personal narrator We're gonna jump right into today's post as we optimize your life Be Happy Now by Jenny Lee of HelloBrio.com

[00:00:24] You're always dreaming big. You think of the next awesome sauce apartment You're gonna be in or when you'll trade in your less than shiny car for a brand new one that makes you feel like a bad I get it. We're doing the same thing right now

[00:00:38] In fact, I wrote this post in an effort to forget about my own fast dreams with cars houses, etc personal digression aside Looking for gold There's a song by the Kin with a line in it that goes you were looking for gold while sitting on diamonds

[00:00:57] That line has meant a lot of different things to me over the years But as Chris and I start to look for new housing I can't help but think that our ideals of having a swanky apartment in Center City, Philadelphia

[00:01:10] Or a house in the suburbs are too much too soon Also with my car lease ending soon. I dream of getting an SUV But why do I really need a bigger better car? Recently my friend JT wrote a public letter to his little sister with great financial advice

[00:01:28] It got me thinking just because I could afford a significantly more expensive housing or car situation Should I do it? But that's enough about me. What about you? Where are you now in life and would your goals actually do anything for you?

[00:01:46] Let's consider for a moment that all that you have right now is good enough Your house and car Provided you're living a modest life and aren't stretching paycheck to paycheck or are in serious debt Maybe the situation you're in right now is fine

[00:02:03] Maybe you're in a similar boat as I am you're renting a decent apartment But you dream of buying a house or you think often about how your life would be better If you had an extra bedroom or so much extra square feet, etc

[00:02:16] Maybe you own a car right now, but whenever you see a new model on the road you get pangs of jealousy You were looking for gold while sitting on diamonds Stop to think for a moment

[00:02:28] Again provided you're living within your means the house or car you have right now might just be okay You've been living without for so long Bigger dreams and goals are good to have but maybe they should only be pursued when it actually fits your budget

[00:02:46] A new house or a more expensive car seems great But emptying your savings in order to put a down payment on something new and shiny May come back to haunt you when you actually need to dip into emergency funds Your somewhat the situation right now

[00:03:03] Could leverage you to make a more sound move in the future, especially if you hunker down on your budget your career You were looking for gold while sitting on diamonds Where you are right now might be better than your dream job

[00:03:18] Sure, it's easy to think about a career where you'd be making tens of thousands of dollars extra a year You have a cooler title You'd be able to drive that sports car or buy that mini mansion in that nice neighborhood Maybe in your current job

[00:03:32] You're bored from time to time or you feel like you could do much better the possible scenarios in a semi-unhappy occupation or endless But what would a new career really mean in reality? Do you have to go back to school in order to advance?

[00:03:48] What does that school debt look like and do the pros outweigh the cons? If you had your dream career with a shiny director title Does that mean you'd suddenly be spending long hours in the office with less time with your family and friends in your McMansion?

[00:04:04] Does it mean you'd go on vacation only to be glued to your iPhone answering emails and taking calls? Your relationship status So you're devastatingly single you want to be married yesterday Or you're in a relationship, but you have a wandering eye

[00:04:20] Especially when your significant other does that thing you can't stand again I've lot to say about dating and relationships. I wrote a book about it. So I won't go too much into it here But wait a second

[00:04:32] Maybe you're single and you're frustrated because your biological clock is ticking or because you just don't want to be alone anymore Or maybe you're just unhappy with whatever your current situation is and you think hey a new relationship would totally fix everything for me Here's recipe for disaster

[00:04:51] Depending on external factors to make you happy Especially if that external factor is another human being I'm not saying to stay single forever or to remain in an unhealthy relationship Just don't be in a rush to change your situation

[00:05:06] Especially if it could end up making things worse for you Well, that sounded really cynical But relationships are complicated and there are so many dynamics to them whether those dynamics are amazing great good meh bad or horrible Dream big but be real and slow down

[00:05:27] Dream big for your perfect house car career or love life goals are important But slow down Appreciate what you have now and recognize that dreams realized may bring new scenarios. You can't predict

[00:05:43] You just listen to the post titled be happy now by Jenny Lee of hello brio calm Thank you to Jenny She had her own quote from a song that tied this all together about looking for gold while sitting on diamonds

[00:06:01] And it also reminds me of the old adage the grass is always greener on the other side That's just because it's in our nature to get bored really easily We're curious right when we come out of the womb and I don't think that curiosity ever goes away

[00:06:17] We always desire novelty But what Jenny is talking about here is redirecting that curiosity instead of assuming we need better things like a quote-unquote better car or bigger house or better job title Maybe we can satisfy that curiosity in other ways like learning a new language or traveling

[00:06:39] Trying an instrument taking a class online or offline taking photos with your phone the list goes on It's easy to fixate on what we don't have but even if we do get those things

[00:06:51] Mentally and emotionally will be right back at square one if we don't have gratitude for what we already have Gratitude after all is one of the many keys to happiness So something to think about today. Thank you for being here speaking of gratitude

[00:07:05] Have a great rest of your day and night, and I'll be back tomorrow where your optimal life awaits