“If you look at what you have in life, you’ll always have more. If you look at what you don’t have in life, you’ll never have enough.” ~Oprah Winfrey
How many of you suffer from what I do: envy? I always look at people with mansions and big huge pools and acres of land and I want it. Advantages that I don’t have. Even though I have a nice home and a nice yard and nice stuff, I don’t have THAT. And sometimes it gets me down. I’m left thinking when am I ever going to be able to get all THAT?
But on those rare occasions when I take note of how lucky I am and what all I do have, I realize I have much to be grateful for. And I realize that I ought not want for anything because I actually do have it all. I have all I need, that is.
Oprah’s quote therefore really spoke to me. If I look at what I don’t have in life, I’ll never have enough. True, that. If I look at what I have in life, I’ll always have more. That’s true too. In fact, I have more than I need.
Thanks again Oprah!
(Although I truly wish I had all that she has… I’d really be happy then! )
How do you feel about Oprah’s quote? Do you often find yourself in a state of envy? Are you truly happy with what you have now and do you think it’s enough?
Charles Allen Gilbert completed the classic black & white optical illusion in 1892. It can be seen as a pretty girl admiring her reflection in a mirror, or as an ominous skull in the background. The tableau is exquisite and the message is clear.
Illusion: the image created by imagination and having no objective reality. Things look different than they really are. Illusion is something that deceives by producing a false or misleading impression of reality, a false impression.
Do you get caught up in the constant drive to achieve some ideal and seemingly unattainable version of yourself and your life? I do. Or I should say I used to. I don’t so much anymore because after 50 years it’s finally sinking in that so much of what I see is illusion.
I see model-thin women, making self-deluding statements with their latest must-have fashions, and for years I’ve been insanely jealous but now I know that what lies beneath the veneer of confident smiles is a woman who is just as unsatisfied with her body as I am with mine.
Every day I see façades of happy couples but I know that behind the façade is a pair of individuals who are essentially miserable being married.
I see those who have so much money they couldn’t possibly spend it all in a lifetime, yet they hold on to it so tightly as if that money defines their identity and is inextricably tied to their core being. I can’t help but yearn to have that kind of money and I tell myself, with me, it would be different; I wouldn’t fall victim to its spell. But is that the truth?
I look to all the mansions and expansive homes with indulgent envy but I’m pretty sure now that the people inside are just as fucked up as the rest of us.
TS Eliot said “Humankind cannot handle very much reality.” I’d say that’s probably not far from the truth. We all seem to live in a land of illusion and for the most part, we seem to be pretty okay with it…maybe because we don’t even realize it.
So, is reality overrated? What do you think? Is illusion a preferred state?
Welcome to the grand illusion Come on in and see what’s happening Pay the price, get your tickets for the show The stage is set, the band starts playing Suddenly your heart is pounding You’re wishing secretly you were a star
But don’t be fooled by the radio The TV or the magazines They’ll show you photographs of how your life should be But they’re just someone else’s fantasies So if you think your life is complete confusion ‘Cause you never win the game Just remember that it’s a grand illusion And deep inside we’re all the same We’re all the same
So if you think your life is complete confusion Because your neighbor’s got it made Just remember that it’s a grand illusion And deep inside we’re all the same
America spells competition Join us in our blind ambition Get yourself a brand new motorcar Someday soon we’ll stop to ponder What on earth’s this spell we’re under We made the grade and still we wonder Who the hell we are
Lyrics to “The Grand Illusion” by Styx, the title track of their 1977 Grand Illusion album
Angels Bark 