Breeze through Life

Here are some observations on how to have a good life without much stress or doing a lot of things you’d rather not.  Of course it is taken from my own life and what has worked for me.  It is not THE answer, because there isn’t one.  It may be a guide if it suits your style.  

I have a couple of pre-conditions that unfortunately excludes at least half the world’s population.  Get born in a reasonably affluent country, to non-abusive parents and without a major disability.  To those who thrive without one or all of these advantages, I dips me lid.  You are way beyond me and should run the masterclass.  

1)  Be optimistic and trust people.  People sense trust and usually return it with generosity.  When someone fails your trust, don’t draw it in, allocate it elsewhere.  

2)  Go after what excites you and what satisfies you.  Make material gratification and earning a living secondary.  In affluent societies there are plenty of niche opportunities to put bread on the table. 

3)  Value relationships over money or status.  Don’t keep up with the Joneses.  They are going in the wrong direction.  

4)  Keep debts small and manageable.  Debts greatly curtail one’s range of life choices.  Don’t exchange freedom for immediate gratification.

5)  Work outside the financial system as much as possible (and stay legal).  Work for yourself and duck the taxes, fees and interest rates the system is so adept at creaming off.  They spread the net wide, but can’t catch the fingerlings.  Nor apparently the big fish.  Don’t be their cash cow. 

6)  Reduce consumption.  My pet hates are coca cola and bottled water.  What a con! generating mountains of garbage, some of which I have to deal with.   Wear clothes till they fall off and value things which have lived a long life.  Thank you old mop, but you are too bald now.

7)  Don’t worry about what you can’t fix.  Move on.  Don’t worry about what you can fix either, just think of a hundred ways to fix it, and do one or two of them.  Apply work, delete stress.

8)  Be confident you can do things beyond your present knowledge.  Nothing is as quick as learning on the job.  Every scrap of information is saved and used.  Never pass an opportunity to learn a new skill.  With persistence, frustration transitions to eureka moments.  Rejoice in failure, as it means you learnt a lot, or at least gave it your best shot.

9)  Look for and appreciate the skills, virtues and philosophy in other people.  Then there is a good chance you will acquire them.  They will be gladly given.

10)  Enjoy happiness, but let it pass.  It is ephemeral and cannot be kept except as a ghost in memory.  Try for contentment which can be satisfying and maintained indefinitely as a state of being.  

There you have my 10 point plan for easy living as gleaned from a million books.  Nothing new.  Just what I have found useful.  So just ease back, relax, and visualise what is really important to you.  

Nothing to do with this post, but I thought you might like to see one of the residents of my workshop.  This leaf-tailed lizard is often behind the sliding door.  It is obvious against the wall boards, but if it were on a tree in the rainforest you would be hard pressed to see it even when staring at it.  This one posed nicely for me relying on his wonderful camouflage not realising it was a bust with a plain background.  I also sized it up with a ruler at 22 cm.  He shares the shed with a sizable red-bellied black snake I saw yesterday cruising through the shelf with the plumbing bits.  The workshop is a favourite place and  frequent haunt for me ‘doing stuff’, like in the last couple of days constructing a heavy-duty pipe clamp to repair the ram pump steel drive pipe.  I cut up the stainless-steel body of a burnt out pump combined with S/S bolts from a dead dingy to endure the weather and the very high pressures in the ram pump.  I love repurposing junk to make valuable tailor-made items.  My grandkids also love the workshop and its infinite mess and possibilities.  They have a healthy respect for snakes and sometimes send me ahead as scout. All shed residents tolerate each other and perhaps the key word is respect.  I look around the world and many places are in a sorry state.  Where respect is entrenched, harmony reigns.