I can’t remember where I first heard something similar to that headline (it may have been Seth Godin…)

But the idea occurred to me that so much of what we do is an attempt to get away from our daily lives…

People do drugs or drink to numbness to escape reality…

They take vacations to get away from work or family or just about anything else…

And those moments just become these little blips of happiness on the radar. Not even happiness, really, but bursts of pleasure… 

But contrary to popular belief, pleasure and happiness aren’t the same thing.

I think the key to good living is this:

Create a reality from which you don’t want to escape. 

Easier said than done, I know. And plenty of people have real horrors they need to escape from (I know from way too much personal experience). 

But few of us rarely sit down for a few quiet minutes and take the time to think about what that reality would be. 

I’d encourage you to take a few minutes now— with pen in hand and a few pieces of paper—and write out any- and everything that comes to mind about the lifestyle from which you wouldn’t want to escape. 

Then ask yourself what the first step would be on the way to making that reality real.

Because no one else is going to make that reality for you. You’ve got to do the work yourself.

And it’s sad, but true, that you might be at a severe disadvantage compared to others due to things that are completely out of your control—or shouldn’t even matter. 

But that doesn’t change what YOU have to do to get what you want.