My library of interesting thoughts (people)

I would just like to comment on how I feel very blessed to know and have access to the thoughts of many interesting, intelligent, innovative and (insert other complementary "i" words here) people.

It's true that I often take this for granted, but I was just reading through various blogs and emails from people I know all over the world, and it just struck me as so obvious how lucky I am to be surrounded by people that in essence serve as an endless library of information about such diverse subjects.

Thanks to modern technology and our ability to travel all over the world with such ease, meeting such eclectic groups of people, the current young adults of the world (particularly those with access to education) can be described as particularly fortunate. Questions and queries are answered with such ease (thank you, Google) and if you don't believe what CNN believes, there's always a way to find out what's really going on if you take the time and energy to do so (thank goodness).

I personally take an extra drop of pleasure in reading/listening to the opinions of people who don't claim to "have it all figured out." Perhaps it's knowing the underlying internal debate that makes subsequent conclusions appear more coherent? And I happen to have access to an incredible group of friends, family and colleagues that inform me what is going on in various corners of the world, make it a point to argue with me (and even prove me wrong ;-P) and let me pick their brain on a fairly frequent basis. So, thank you.

Let's face it, as intriguing as it may be to read a well-written newspaper article, I will always have a preference to hear about the same subject from a person who I have also seen walking through the library in their pajamas at 4am or thinking deeply while dunking cookies in milk.

treat yourself well... enough with all this guilt!

Just a short post on how I think it is essential that people stop feeling guilty about treating themselves well. People always seem to need excuses to buy themselves things they like if they aren't completely 'necessary' and if they don't provide an excuse, being good to oneself in various forms is seen as somehow "outside the box" or not completely normal behavior. You don't need to get a bonus, feel like crap, have a birthday, breakup with someone, or any other reason in the world to say, ok, now I can treat myself to something I like and make myself happy.

When did self-worth and treating ourselves well go out of style?

And I'm not talking about ego here. When we speak of ourselves and give ourselves compliments above and beyond treating ourselves well, it is inherently a result of some lack of self-esteem, or need to justify our actions. Much like feeling guilty or making excuses for treating ourselves well.

It's also not about pity or feeling sorry for ourselves. It's true, sometimes a chocolate break on a rough day can turn it all around... but you also don't need to wait for a bad day to say, hey, some ice cream would make me really happy right now. period.

I am hardly above this flaw, and in fact I am posting about it because I think it is important to realize that most of us out there have work to do in this regard. Not everyone can "spoil" themselves with material goods, and sometimes we do just to show others where we stand in the hierarchy of society... but if you have it to spend... and it will make you genuinely happy... why the need to justify it? If you tell me it makes you happy, I promise I will believe you.

In short, I've made a New Year's resolution of sorts to stop justifying, both to myself and everyone around me, things that I know make me happy and that I can afford (financially, physically, mentally) to give to myself. I hope others choose to do the same. At the end of the day, we're better for everyone (ourselves included) when we're happy AND, beyond everything else...

we're worth it.