Take What You Get…
Whenever I heard these words from my mother’s lips I knew they would be followed by… “and be happy with it.” My daughter will be happy to acknowledge she probably felt the same way. However, Mom wasn’t wrong. When you take what you get and learn how to be happy with it life seems to be lighter and easier; and, you tend to end up being in an even better place than you thought you would.
Today’s society doesn’t prize this attitude near as much as it was considered a generation ago. In the day of internet connection, blogs (and, yes, I realize this is one), cell phones, instant text messaging (Dick Tracey where are you now?), continual polling and requests for your desires, the emphasis on individual is now paramount.
Now, I’m not saying that is a bad thing. In many respects the individual is allowed to achieve more as a an individual in today’s society without many of the negative ramifications of years past. Yet, at the same time, we seem to be loosing context with the greater whole.
The greater whole is where one learns the higher good of sacrifice one’s personal wants and/or desires for a greater good. Whether its holding your tongue and letting a small slight go when your special someone is having a bad day (i.e. understanding that it’s more a reflection of the the bad day they are having than their true feelings for you) or going out of your way to ensure that an uncomfortable situation is as comfortable as possible, you are working toward a positive end in a positive way.
Taking what you get and being happy with it is almost a foreign concept to many people at this time. Through inability to allow themselves to achieve happiness with what they have and where they are in their path in life (because isn’t that exactly where you’re supposed to be?) many deny themselves the true understanding of the joys found in the moment and in their lives.
Although I hated to hear it when I was growing up, Mom’s addage of take what you get and be happy with it is a mantra we all could remember … both for our own inner happiness and the emotional energy we put out into the world!
