Tuesday, April 12, 2011

I believe the only way to evaluate how we are living is to evaluate how we are not living. -Toni Morrison from Getting to Happy


I have been taking frequent trips to Florida lately to enjoy the warmth and sunshine that winter does not offer in other parts of the country.  During one of my trips, my friend and I decided to take a long drive along the water and listen to Toni Morrison’s book Getting to Happy.  The book is thought provoking and witty and worth the read. Since listening to this book, the idea of evaluating my life by how I am not living has really struck a chord with me.

When you live a life of busyness each and every day as I do, it is hard to wade through the daily muck of life and get to happy—it’s not that I am not happy.  It’s just that there are a lot of other things that I would rather be doing than what I am doing, both professionally and personally.

Sometimes it is the case that it is easier to determine what we want by recognizing what we don’t want.  Even something as simple as choosing a meal from a menu, it is easier to decide what we don’t feel like having and narrow our choices.  Such is with life.  I think we often find ourselves in situations, relationships, jobs, cities, etc. that we don’t like but aren’t quite sure how to get to what we want.

Start by taking some time to use Morrison’s theory:  evaluate how you are not living to hopefully get to happy.

Jill Personius

No comments: