I aggravated a muscle in my back which I had pulled a few years ago. Seems like an injured muscle in the back never gets 100% better. Not sure what's going on with that, but I hear that from many people who have injured their backs in the past.
So, when I do my weight lifting in the morning, I'll have to skip my back exercises. The pain is not excruciating like when I first pulled the muscle. But the pain is just enough to let me know I had better take it easy.
My distraction from my exercising today is due to a conversation I had with my wife before I went to work-out. She took our daughter to visit an old daycare playmate of hers. Their family is quite affluent and quite frankly, make us look like po' folk. But not only that, they seem to have all their ducks in a row, so to speak, and their life of success, money, and world travel from now until retirement already seems planned out and achievable.
So my wife asks me if we even have plans for the next two years.
I do . . . but they are not as vast or ambitious. Nor will my plans likely satisfy her query. So, I evaded the question a bit.
She also expressed tons of self doubt and voiced that she is now feeling depressed.
(no-- real depression. not the "play" stuff)
So, I was distracted when I went to exercise. The work-out did clear my mind a bit, but at the same time, the effort I try to put into my cardio was certainly diminished.
I contemplated what makes someone happy. Is there a difference between happiness and contentment? Why do some people seem happy in nearly any circumstance or in the face of any adversity, and others crumble when the appear that all is well for them.
Well, some of the answer lies in biology and personal history. A person who has been abused for any length of time can become biologically hard-wired for sadness and depression. That is partly why inflicting trauma on someone is such a horrendous act. More harm is done than what occurs in the act itself, but a residual damage is constantly inflicted long after the traumatic event has physically ceased.
Such a crime, these things are. And such a shame that too often, the offenders go unpunished while the victim is left without any sense of vindication whatsoever.
I am tempted to say that happiness alludes so many people because they simply have the wrong perspective. Contentment comes to those who are happy about life, not necessarily happy about the events in one's life.
While that thought may have a kernel of truth, such a statement is much too simplistic.
I feel inadequate when my wife becomes depressed. But, after nine years of parenthood and 13 years of marriage I have learned that you cannot make other people truly happy. You can support them, encourage them, and make them feel better. You can help them over hurdles, help them change their lives, and be a shoulder to cry upon during dark times. And these are noble things for sure.
But to grant happiness is not a power or possession that anyone has to give. One must find his or her own way to happiness. And I fear, too many look in all the wrong places for it.
So, I was distracted when I went to exercise. The work-out did clear my mind a bit, but at the same time, the effort I try to put into my cardio was certainly diminished.
I contemplated what makes someone happy. Is there a difference between happiness and contentment? Why do some people seem happy in nearly any circumstance or in the face of any adversity, and others crumble when the appear that all is well for them.
Well, some of the answer lies in biology and personal history. A person who has been abused for any length of time can become biologically hard-wired for sadness and depression. That is partly why inflicting trauma on someone is such a horrendous act. More harm is done than what occurs in the act itself, but a residual damage is constantly inflicted long after the traumatic event has physically ceased.
Such a crime, these things are. And such a shame that too often, the offenders go unpunished while the victim is left without any sense of vindication whatsoever.
I am tempted to say that happiness alludes so many people because they simply have the wrong perspective. Contentment comes to those who are happy about life, not necessarily happy about the events in one's life.
While that thought may have a kernel of truth, such a statement is much too simplistic.
I feel inadequate when my wife becomes depressed. But, after nine years of parenthood and 13 years of marriage I have learned that you cannot make other people truly happy. You can support them, encourage them, and make them feel better. You can help them over hurdles, help them change their lives, and be a shoulder to cry upon during dark times. And these are noble things for sure.
But to grant happiness is not a power or possession that anyone has to give. One must find his or her own way to happiness. And I fear, too many look in all the wrong places for it.