There's no place like home

A friend confided in me recently that she sometimes looks at real estate listings and just dreams about someday owning that "dream house". I told her that I often do the same thing. I imagine it's something that a lot of us do. Whether it's a house, a car, or a new job, we imagine the possibility; what it would be like if we had that new thing. It's part of our culture, the "American Dream", and to some extent probably an innate part of human beings. We always tend to look towards the future and think that the grass is greener. It's good to dream, and it's good to have goals. But we must be careful not to think that those things will make us happy. It's the mistaken belief that happiness itself is a destination, that someday, if we have all of the right things, we will arrive there.

After perusing the apartment listings on craigslist, or the local real estate pages, suddenly, my cozy little apartment feels claustrophobic, messy, and just lacking. If only I had that sprawling backyard with a swing set, or the kitchen with granite counter tops, then I could be satisfied. But that's the trick, if we are always looking at what we don't have, then we will never be satisfied, because we will always need something more. And that magic place we are trying to arrive at called "happiness", just gets farther and farther away.

I recently joined Pinterest, the site where you can share and pin pictures of things you like, and I imediately became overwhelmed with this sort of feeling. It is so easy to become addicted to the pursuit of material things, and to gather up collections of things that we think will make us happy; put them in a folder called, "what if..", "someday", or "when I win the lottery". We can get so caught up in the idea of tomorrow that we forget to be grateful for today, the place where our dreams and passions are actually created.

Our minds are conditioned to compare and judge, even to our own detriment. So if we must compare ourselves to others, why not think about those less fortunate, and be grateful that we have a bed to sleep in, a roof over our heads, and most importantly, a family to share it with...however cramped we may be sleeping all in one room.

There are days that I feel helpless, like the idea of owning a home is impossible given our financial situation and the state of the economy. But it's when I remember to be grateful for what I already have, that I have hope for my dreams, while reminding myself at the same time that I don't need those things to be happy. I can create happiness right here, right now, through gratitude.

Like Dorthy in "The Wizard of OZ", I had the power all along. Just click your heals together. "There's no place like home."