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I’m in the throes of Christmas Knitting, as are most of you at the moment. My Christmas push is (probably) a bit different, though, since I’m knitting up eBay sales. We’re at the height of online shopping, and a lot of folks want to buy a Jayne hat for the geeks on their shopping list.
Very little personal knitting has been taking place, therefore, so today I’m going to cop out by piggybacking on Rachel’s post. (Sometimes, even an insanely long blog comment just isn’t enough.)
I’m often accused of being an innately happy person, which I still find surprising. I wasn’t always this way; I have to work at happy. It takes effort.
Do you want the secret to happiness? I will give it to you, because I wuv you. Are you ready? Here it is:
1. Pretend you are dead. Wherever you’re reading this, imagine for a moment that you have dropped dead at just this instant.
2. Humor me in this exercise by imagining that there is no post-mortem existence. (It’s best to err on the conservative side, don’t you think?) From now on, until the end of time itself, you will be dead. Gone. Poof. No more you.
3. Carefully examine your immediate surroundings, and think about what you’d miss, if you were dead.
I don’t know about you, but I’m at home sitting at my computer – so of course, there’s the internet. I would miss the internet.
Beside me on the desk, I have a cup of my favorite coffee – Starbucks Christmas blend – which, along with its splash of eggnog, is wafting out a lovely aroma. (I would refer to the eggnog as being a seasonal splurge, but I despise the word splurge.) I just took a sip, and it tastes wonderful.
It’s overcast today, so my desk is lit by the new lamp I bought at Ikea. It has just the right amount of brightness.
It’s a bit chilly (woodstove dude should be here in a few hours) but I’m wearing my Tux sweater, which is warm and comfortable (if awkward in construction – but I have forgiven it for its sins). Plus sweatpants and a good pair of slippers, of course.
My little radio across the room is playing some nice, inconsequential music.
If I were dead, I would have none of these things. Forever.
Continue this exercise for long enough, and you will suddenly realize that if you were dead, you would miss everything. Not just the favorite sweater – EVERYTHING. You’d miss your computer keyboard, even though it’s cheap and has crumbs stuck between the keys. You’d miss your computer itself, even though it’s not half as nice as you’d like it to be. You’d even miss the things that you hate beyond reason: spam, traffic lights that turn red from sheer malice, having to wash the dishes. EV-ER-Y-THING. Because even the stuff that you hate would be gone forever.
4. But wait! You’re not dead! You’re alive! Take a deep breath, and feel the relief.
5. But wait – you will be dead, some day. It may not be for another 60 years, but ask yourself – is 60 years really enough time? Of course not. No amount of time will ever be enough. So, bleep, people, what are you waiting for? If there’s something you want to do, then you should do it. You may never have the chance, if you keep putting it off like that.
And while you’re at it, appreciate life – the goods, bads, and mediocres – because it’s all you’re going to get.
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What an astoundingly great post! I’d miss the space heater that is over-toasting my legs, the fuzzy black cat that is insisting on licking my nose even as I type, the feel of nice yarn — even crappo acrylic yarn — and needles, my iPod, my husband’s earthquake-level snoring… the list goes on for days.
A splash of eggnog in the coffee? Said nog is coming home from the grocery store with me this very afternoon so I can try that. It sounds yummy. Have you ever tried the tiniest bit — less than a teaspoon — of dark rum in your coffee? Also to die for.
Comment by kmkat —
December 8, 2006 @ 12:41 pm
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Nail. on. the. head.
Customers at the Starbucks where I work ask me why I’m so cheerful *all* of the time – even at 5:30am. The answer is quite simply that you have a choice to be happy, and appreciate things, or to let little things get to you, and be unhappy. I choose to appreciate things (like the inimical debit machine at work, which stops functioning the instant I touch it) and laugh whenever I can. Good on you for doing the same!
(also, the additions to your wee home? wonderful!)
Comment by Dani —
December 8, 2006 @ 10:05 pm
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Oh… oh…. oh….. I love this. Yes.
Comment by Rachael —
December 9, 2006 @ 1:43 am
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Thanks for that lovely exercise. May I pass it on in my live journal?
Comment by Sarah —
December 18, 2006 @ 3:16 pm
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Absolutely, Sarah!
Comment by Erika —
December 18, 2006 @ 9:06 pm
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i love it. i am putting up a link to it. just lovely. and true! i have lupus and people view me as having a potentially short life. hey, did you know even if you don’t THINK you are going to kick the bucket or get sick, you might? it drives me nuts. you gotta live it whilst you can. before blue ice falls out of the sky and kills ya.
Comment by natasha —
December 22, 2006 @ 10:02 pm
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