Everybody always thinks the grass is always greener. ~ Patrick Ewing
Lately my youngest has been full of beliefs that the grass is greener on the other side. She often wonders if her life would be better with another family (you know, one that would not be so mean as to punish her when she does not follow directions, or one that does not make her do – gasp! chores!!!) I cannot really get angry with her for these fantasies, as I had them myself growing up – sometimes often! I would have all sorts of fantasies about my “real” family that was going to whisk me away to my paradise…. needless to say, I never got that “real” family because I was already living with my “real” family.
To be honest, my partner and I can be the same way – often. We look at our jobs, our home, and we wonder what else is out there in this big world. Some of it is our own need for challenges and feeling that when life is too comfortable the challenges to grow are not great enough and we need new adventures…. and part of it is a similar fantasy to that of my daughter – believing that somewhere the grass is greener.
The irony is, with today’s economic times, often the grass is greener right where we are. In fact, if we have a stable job and a good home, we are ahead of so many people in today’s world.
I wonder how much more content we would all be if we could take a moment and list all the things we are thankful for. If only we could look at all the green grass around us. I am not saying that we should not challenge ourselves to learn and grow, but that we also need to challenge ourselves to be thankful for that which we already have.
Today, 228 days ’til 40, I strive to remember to be thankful for the green grass on this side of the fence, even when I gaze at the other side…..
~400daystil40
Fortuitous Forty!!! 
jensine
July 8, 2012 at 00:41
I think it’s the light it makes you see it more 🙂 … i use to always play running-away and had a suitcase backed under my bed. Wonder what Freud would say
400daystil40
July 8, 2012 at 18:47
I also used to play running away (usually with a friend) in our naiveté we thought $5.00 would be enough for us to survive for a long time!
jensine
July 8, 2012 at 18:48
well I had some sort of idea about picky berries and eating nuts
kokorimbaud
July 8, 2012 at 00:51
You might already know this – in case you don’t, there’s this great video from Shawn Achor – “The Happiness Advantage: Linking Positive Brains to Performance”, and one of the things he proposes is that calling out three things you’re grateful for will help you set your brain to a happier mode (in very short).
Great concept, I believe, and it sounds very much in line with what you posted today 🙂
You can watch in on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXy__kBVq1M
400daystil40
July 8, 2012 at 18:46
Thank you – I will have to go look this up!!!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
miladynotes
July 8, 2012 at 00:57
Reblogged this on Miladynotes and commented:
So true
livingforjackie
July 8, 2012 at 00:59
I often gaze at the other side and wonder if it is greener. But I know it’s not. Gazing and dreaming is healthy I think….it’s when we actually try to GO to the other side is when we get in trouble and find out we should have stayed where we were……although I have to admit…..I have gone to the other side a couple of times in my life….and didn’t regret it…..it may not be for everyone….and I wouldn’t do it all the time…..but I took a few chances and it paid off…..guess I was lucky….
400daystil40
July 8, 2012 at 18:46
Yes, I agree completely.
walkwiththerabbi
July 8, 2012 at 02:16
Great post! If you haven’t already, I invite you and your partner to read my post titled “Got envy? – Change Your Focus!” It’s my most recent post at “thewalkbook.wordpress.com.” I’d love your comments.
400daystil40
July 8, 2012 at 18:45
We have – thank you so much!!!! 🙂
mskatykins
July 8, 2012 at 02:55
I’m one of the crazy people who has given up a stable job (eek!) to pursue a different direction and a new challenge… (double eek!). I think it’s incredibly important to think about what we are thankful for. I’m not thankful enough for my romantic relationship. At least not publicly. I am really lucky to have an open-minded, tolerant, patient and fun loving guy who always gives me compliments (that I don’t readily accept!). I’m pretty lucky. 🙂
400daystil40
July 8, 2012 at 18:44
Wow, please let me know how it goes! We are still contemplating doing the same…. it is a tough question to ask and a tough balance…..
mskatykins
July 10, 2012 at 11:24
I shall indeed… I’m at the ‘wow, so this is really happening and it’s scary!’ stage! Nothing ventured, nothing gained, eh?
narf77
July 8, 2012 at 04:26
Contentment with your lot doesnt sell stuff. Advertising moguls are continually finding new and more urgent ways to make us feel less satisfied with our lot and more likely to part with our readies (or not so readies as is becoming more prevalent). It’s part of the human condition to lust after what our friends and neighbours have but is more to do with looking outwards than looking inwards. You can’t actually ever be happy when you are always looking out, trying to satisfy what is inside you. We have all been taught to “aspire” and that settling for what we have is what losers do. I constantly get people telling me how luck I am to live out in the country but they have NO idea how tough it can be! I love my life…don’t get me wrong…but the idyllic picture of a woman with a headscarf waving in the light breeze out in the sunshine surrounded by English country garden picking herbs, selecting perfect brown eggs from a lovely nest full of hay whilst singing something from The Sound of Music is so far from the truth as to be positively hilarious.
400daystil40
July 8, 2012 at 18:43
So very very true (and sad) the job of advertisers is to convince us that we need something we really do not. 🙂
narf77
July 9, 2012 at 10:20
AND that we should never be satisfied with anything. If they can convince us all of that their job is done 😉
Victoria Oldham
July 8, 2012 at 12:52
It’s so important to see what we have, and not what we might have. Lovely blog.
And you’re my featured blog of the day too. 🙂
400daystil40
July 8, 2012 at 18:19
Thanks for your comment and the huge compliment! 🙂
The Quiet Borderline (back in hospital)
July 9, 2012 at 15:30
Here here. I agree. We take too much for granted.
400daystil40
July 9, 2012 at 22:59
🙂 😉
Spider42
July 10, 2012 at 11:16
One of my favourite quotes of all time and a personal one is Wilde’s : “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
Most people think that this means only what it says. It might. But all things are open to interpretation, and the way I see it is that we are all the same and basic and nothing overly special by itself – what makes us special and what makes us more than just drones and drudgery-laden-cows is the ability to look beyond, to dream, to imagine, to wish and to desire. Don’t be greedy and don’t expect something you didn’t EARN – but aspire to the stars and who knows where life will take you.
If I had to teach kids anything, that would be it.
400daystil40
July 10, 2012 at 17:42
Great quote! Thank you so much for sharing it!!! I also love your interpretation!
Spider42
July 11, 2012 at 09:20
Me too! 🙂
This is why I love “choice” and “perception” as concepts.
Donkey Whisperer Farm
July 11, 2012 at 02:49
I think this is a very interesting conversation I feel blessed to have found your blog. My horse and donkeys are always looking over the fence no matter which pasture they are in. I think blogging helps each of us see others life and be grateful for our life. That’s the way I look at it any way.
400daystil40
July 12, 2012 at 22:10
Thank you!!! 🙂