EMAIL# 227- 30TH JULY 2023- # "VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE"
What bring happiness is the contrast between what you are doing now and what you were just doing.
The responsibility of building or renovating a family’s home is a huge burden to carry and running a residential building company is a very stressful occupation. But all in all, I love my job and I love being a builder.
For me, every workday is different, and my job role includes a huge variety of tasks using different skill sets. I love solving building problems and the day-to-day challenges that are always present. My workdays and weeks fly by and there is never a dull moment.
The contrast in what I am doing from one hour to the next is an addictive drug and I do not know how I will ever do without it.
“The richest you will ever feel is the day you get your first paycheque.”
“It’s not how much you earn that makes you happy, it’s how it makes you feel.” Morgan Housel
My family has had the burdensome privilege of living in seventeen houses. Each house has been completely unique and very different to live in and function in. This constant moving and adapting to a new living environment has added enormous variety to all our lives and as a parent I am super proud of giving the family these experiences.
“Happiness and fulfilment isn’t found in the future, it’s found in the present moment.” Unknown
Warren Buffet is famous for promoting the benefits of low expectations. Your expectations are very powerful and when you realise how destructive they can be to your happiness, you are wise to work at keeping your expectations as low as possible. One of Buffet’s Favorite mantras is “all forms of joy and happiness come from experiencing a gap between expectations and reality.”
To some extent we are all striving for variety and contrast in our lives. But one of our biggest challenges for staying happy is that we quickly adapt to new circumstances. What felt new and exciting last month, now feels mundane and normal. Injecting spice and variety into life takes real work, creativity, and commitment.
It also helps to have a love for solving problems.
“Happiness is a habit. Practice it today because tomorrow may never come.” Tim Denning
Thanks for reading,
Stay safe and mix it up a little.
David
