I often boast about needing very little to be happy. I can content myself with a book, a cup of tea, and a friend, and that usually suffices. Then I think I'm only kidding myself.
Really, I have MORE than what I need to be truly happy...my laptop computer, my hundreds of books, my Video and DVD collection, and the machines and the TV to play them on, the radio with the public stations, the music CD's, the cabinets and refrigerator filled with food, the health club, my cell phone, my e-mail address.....
Sure, I don't drive a fancy car, or live in a McMansion (or any kind of mansion), but I am comfortable, and am luckier than many. I am working, I can travel, and I have family near me. Best of all I have my patient and loving partner, and my tremendous friends, old and new, who sustain me and support me.
If I am going to be serious about acquiring the discipline needed to live a writer's life, I will need to be content with less on a daily basis.
When Maggie was with us, I learned just how very little is required for happiness. All she needed was the company of her loved ones, some time outside, her food and water, and her only "vice": a rawhide bone every day, which she ate proudly and voraciously, feeling that she was pleasing us as much as she enjoyed it herself. (The funniest thing is that the bones she liked the best did not come from a pet shop, but from a home repair and decorating store in the area called Menards! ) We were also careful to supply her with American-made bones that had no toxic "flavorings" or coloring. (Click here for tips on buying the best rawhides for your dog.)
Maggie especially loved it when we laid on the floor with her while she relished her treat. It looked something like this, to me:
If only people could be as simple as our pets. How much easier life would be if a rubber ball made us as happy as a new car and the height of bliss was a belly rub. Maggie is the picture of joy and contentment and it's obvious from your writings about her that you shared that happiness as her proud papa! Great post, Tom!
ReplyDeleteShe was a special animal Tom, and my fervent hope on these "pages" is to do her justice and make her come alive so folks could know her like I did. Thanks for your visit and your kind remarks. ~Tom
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