Fulfillment and Felicity !

So...

How do we reach fulfillment?

you can read Buddha,

Ekhart Tolle, the Bible,

and they all say fulfillment is reached

through prayer or meditation,

giving of yourself, and controlling your ego. But you also have to look after yourself very well!

In my case, fulfillment is through family, love, work and art.

Not that I consider myself a VanGogh by any means. But I get to revel in the richness of colour, the interplay of textures, and the visual delights of design through my hobby.

Do you know people who have no hobbies? And they dont look forward to retiring? I do. I cant even imagine a life of no interests... just work , eating, and watching television.

I have so many hobbies and things I still want to learn, I will probably be even busier when I do retire.

Today, I read on the CTMH Felicity blog for January:

Psychology Today offers this advice: get a hobby. “Hobbyists are amateurs - that is to say, the most intrinsically motivated of lovers. They court their pastime, not for conquest or for gain, but for pure pleasure. Hobbies are, quintessentially, forms of play.” In other words, passing time with your hobby is the same as doing what you love, and doing what you love is what makes for happiness.

That sounds like making love to paper to me!!

I do know one thing... fulfillment is reached by not taking but by giving of ourselves, and in my case this works in all the areas I mentioned : family, love, and work.

The older I get the more this is true!

The trick is to find a balance where you are not overworking yourself, yet feel satisfaction in what you have done. I prioritize my family over my work... (sorry Ms. Mann) My boss already knows that !

smiles to you all!