What Would You Do?

If you had the one thing you wish you had?

Really think about it for a second. Take the time to quantify it. Is it the mansion? The money? The perfect spouse? The career?

Whatever it is, don’t just name it...build it out vividly in your mind.

The sprawling estate, the private chef, the bank account that never dips below seven figures. Maybe it’s the soulmate who understands you completely, fills every emotional gap, never leaves, and never fails you.

Got it? Good. Now let’s go further: Why do you want that thing?

If I asked you, you’d probably say something like: "Because then I’d be happy."

But pause right there. Why?

"Well, because if I had that, then I’d be able to do this…or that… travel, rest, feel secure…finally breathe."

Okay.....so experiencing this would make you happy? Content? Joyful? Secure?

So....Why can’t you feel that way right now?

Look, I’ll be the first to admit..I’m guilty of chasing all of this too. I want all of it and always still feel the drive for more. And to be clear...there’s nothing wrong with that desire.

In fact, all of this absolutely can impact how you feel. Money can buy a good time. It can open doors, relieve burdens, and create experiences that stir happiness...quickly. And a lack of money? Sure, it can wreck peace fast too.

That’s because we let it.

We allow our state of mind to be dictated by what’s around us instead of who we are.

And even when you "arrive", this doesn’t fix the core problem.

If you can’t manage your emotions without them, you won’t manage them with them. If you can’t find peace in the absence of that “thing,” you won’t find it in the presence of it either. If you can’t be content without wealth, you won’t be content with wealth. If you can’t feel secure without a relationship, you won’t feel secure with one.

Those externals...money, houses, partners, careers...are amplifiers. They amplify who you already are and what you already feel.

If you feel insecure now, more money will only fuel that insecurity. You’ll have more to protect, more to lose.

If you feel lonely now, a relationship won’t fix that emptiness. You’ll just lean on someone else to distract you from it…until they can’t.

Contentment isn’t a destination...it’s a skill. Something you can learn. If you can’t master that skill without the mansion, the spouse, the bank balance, then those things will just become additional props in the play you’re performing for yourself…while your emotional state stays exactly the same.

The truth is, the world is filled with wealthy people who are miserable. It’s filled with people in relationships who still feel profoundly alone. It’s filled with successful, impressive people who are still deeply insecure.

This is because if you can’t govern your own mind, no external circumstance will fix it.

I heard a story once about a traveler who pulls into a small town gas station. While filling up, he asks the old man working there: "What are the people like in this town?"

The old man looks at him and says: "Well, what were the people like where you came from?"

The traveler replies: "Oh, they were awful, rude, unfriendly, dishonest. I couldn’t wait to leave."

The old man nods and says: "Well, you’ll probably find them the same here."

You’ve heard the phrase: "Wherever you go, there you are."

It’s cliché...but it’s reality.

You’ll still be you in that mansion.

You’ll still be you at that perfect table with your perfect partner.

You’ll still be you on that dream vacation.

So what would you do if you had the thing you want? Go For it! Dream about it! Build the picture! But make sure you ask yourself:

Why wait for “that thing” to give you permission to feel what you say you want to feel?

Why can’t you cultivate peace today?

Why can’t you practice joy now?

Why can’t you feel secure without needing to own something external to “secure” you?

The uncomfortable but liberating truth is that thing you’re chasing isn’t what you’re really after. What you’re chasing is the emotional experience you think it will bring.

Happiness.

Contentment.

Security.

Peace.

But these… are all internal.

They don’t live in the house or in the relationship or in the dollar amount.

They live in you.

And they always have.

You keep telling yourself a story that you need “X” before you can allow yourself to feel “Y.” It’s fiction. It’s self-sabotage dressed up as ambition.

So what would you do if you had that thing you want?

Simple: You’d still wake up with yourself.

Your mind. Your patterns. Your emotional habits.

So as you gear up to chase the next thing… Before you give yourself permission to be content once you arrive there…

Learn to be content here.

Master your mind here.

Find your security now.

Because when "it" finally happens… It will only turn up the volume on who you already are.

Today’s Forced Challenge: I want you to FORCE yourself to attack at least one of these challenges:

Meditate on contentment: Every morning, sit quietly for 5 minutes and repeat this thought: “I have enough today.”
Find one joy you can create for free: Identify one thing this week that makes you happy or peaceful and costs nothing then do it deliberately.
Invest in a relationship: Proactively connect with someone not because they’ll “complete” you, but simply because you value human connection.
Reduce “someday” language: Any time you hear yourself say “When I have ___, then I’ll ___,” stop and ask: “Why can’t I do that now?”
Journal your self-perception: End the week by writing a paragraph about who you are today...without referencing external achievements or possessions.

In truth....simple but hard to swallow...nothing you chase will save you from yourself. The house won’t, the money won’t, the perfect relationship won’t. If you can’t sit still and feel peace today, you won’t feel it when all your dreams come true.

So stop postponing your joy. Stop outsourcing your security. Hone yourself now, because the life you think you want isn’t waiting for you out there...it’s waiting for you in here.

What Would You Do?

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