As Shakespeare said, “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” The way I relate to this quote is through the lens of hypnotherapy. It is exemplary of the way I interpret much of the most meaningful and wise information I encounter.

For instance, I'm reading The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom by Jonathan Haidt. Whether he's citing examples from-- the Bible, Buddha, the Upanishads, Confucius, the Koran. Ovid or Marcus Aurelius-- I find a correlation between each of these and the utility of the subconscious mind.

Personally, on this subject -- I have recently found that a sustained perception of happiness comes from within. In addition, the sensation of happiness that comes from outside oneself is ephemeral. The whole question of contentment or fulfillment seems linked to the meaning of our lives. As I've mentioned in an earlier blog, these are the subjects that interest me most now. I highly recommend Jon's book.

Inspired by reading Mary Catherine Bateson's, Composing A Further Life, I posted the previous blog.

Here you'll discover a video of Jane Fonda  giving a compelling talk on the same subject, life's third act. She too was influenced by Ms. Bateson's ideas. Each of us has deep dreams. I believe that these "extra" years offer an opportunity, if we will only grab it, to realize that deferred dream.

Or as the poet, Langston Hughes said,

"What happens to a dream deferred?  
Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?  
Or fester like a sore--- and then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over-- like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?"

My deepest dream has always been to write, because it's the thing I think I cannot do. What is yours?

My maternal grandmother died at age fifty, before I was born. Because the life expectancy of her generation was three decades less than it is now, those extra thirty years tacked onto my life are a gift.

The big question is - how  I can I put those bonus years to the best use? For instance - should I be mining for ever deeper meaning, or making even greater contributions to the community? In this season, when we all take stock of the past year, as well as plan for the new year - New Year's resolutions, etc. -  I am thinking about composing my life in a much broader way. Perhaps, beginning with what I still want to accomplish over the next two decades, and then work back from there.

Emerson said, "To know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived, this is to have succeeded."  About this I'm sure, before I'm done, I want to know that I've made a positive difference in many lives; and that the one life I have, has been spent doing what I came into this world to do.