Looking for that perfect life…

At any given point in our collective journey through life, there are often times where most of us reflect on what we’ve done, where we are, the future, that kind of thing, especially in these ‘Covid times’ as we enter the eighth – yes, eighth – month of this thing.

Most of us want that perfect life, but each of us has, typically, an entirely different take on what perfection really means.

Mac Davis, who we just lost this week along with Helen Reddy, was, in truth, a brilliant songwriter, and one of his ballads, ‘Time Flies’, deftly encapsulated the best way to look at things: Life is moving fast and I’m running out of gas; time ain’t on my side.

I’m still in the race and I’m barely keeping pace…but it’s worth the ride, he penned back in 2010. Some sad day, they’ll be taking me away, but I won’t be dead…I’ll be looking down with a twinkle in my eyes…time flies when you’re having fun.

Certainly, we all want health and the hope that we have more mileage under the hood, so to speak. There are those who think the perfect scenario is to share the rest of your days with someone you love, but there are plenty who’d just as soon go it alone and not be judged for that choice.

Too many individuals think the only key to a happy life is wealth, or at least having enough money to pretty much do whatever you want, but only a small percentage of the world has that luxury, so what do the rest of us do?

Making the most with what you have is honestly the only option, but an alarming percentage of those folks spend way too much time measuring what they want by what others have.

No matter how you stack it, that’s not an avenue of satisfaction and you’ll spend more of your time lamenting what you don’t have versus what you do until you realize you’ve wasted all that time being a ‘wannabe’, backing yourself into a corner from which there appears to be no escape.

We all have friends or relatives or acquaintances who moan about their lack of resources. But the thing is, if you’re still around, regardless of your circumstances, there are so many ways you can find happiness.

You’ll see all the things you can do – not those you can’t do – and get on with the program, for cryin’ out loud.

Yes, you’d love to have that fancy car, but you know what? That 12-year-old Honda will get you where you’re going as long as you keep it up.

Sure you would adore having a beach or mountain getaway, but did you know you can walk on the beach at sunset or travel through some beautiful mountain town absolutely free of charge?

Maybe you’d like, at some point, to pluck a bottle of wine off a shelf and not have to look at the price tag, but here’s a little insider tip: Trader Joe’s is right. There are ‘two-buck’ wines that are every bit as good as that $75 Chateau Whatever.

There are ways to maximize your resources that you may not even realize, and all you have to do is pay attention. Want to have a reasonably fancy dinner but your bank balance won’t support it? Go to Aldi or Lidl and you’ll be stunned to find that you can get what you’d pay Whole Foods an arm and a leg for at about a quarter of their price or less.

See, that so-called perfect life is entirely of your own making, and you’re the only one who can accomplish it. Nobody can do it for you.

Be happy with whatever circumstances you have and you’ll soon realize that perfection is relative.

You’re way better off than you realized, aren’t you?

So go with it. Enjoy the days you have left.

Because time, my friend, is all we’ve got.