Chasing Rainbows

We have several sayings in English that all mean basically the same thing.

“Chasing rainbows”. “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.” “It’s never enough.”

They all have to do with a mentality that happiness and success are just around the corner. “If I could only get to the next big thing!” implies that I don’t have it now, and unless I buy into this one “thing,” I will miss out on finding it.

Some people think happiness will come by winning the lottery. It rarely does. In fact, almost 100% of lottery winners end up worse off in the end. They experience divorce and other broken relationships, and have less money than before they bought that magic ticket.

I once had a friend who was always chasing the next big thing. He was a magnet for “no-lose” financial opportunities that almost always had a cost. Some were sure-fire business opportunities, some were magic systems to build wealth, and some were connections to really spiritual people who seemed to offer something elusive.

But the promised sure-fire success or “pot of gold” only seemed to help the company promoting “the next biggest thing,” and not my friend. In fact, my friend seemed to always end up the loser.

He was always chasing the rainbow, never trusting that he really had the knowledge to accomplish his goals already. Instead, he seemed to have a chronic addiction to the thing he didn’t have. There was always one more “no-lose” opportunity, one bit of “special knowledge,” or “deal you can’t pass up!” It truly did seem like an addiction to the elusive.

Life is hard. But the solutions are not that mysterious. There is no magic bullet or fix-all pill that will help you achieve success. Instead, there is common sense to follow, life skills to learn, and wisdom to exercise. And in this day and age, accessing resources and life online and in books is almost never-ending; so many resources are either free or really cheap!

But we like hype. We like the sound of sexy sales pitches that promise to deliver what we think we need.

There is no software or financial system that will make you rich. There are principles to learn and wise decisions to make, like make more, spend less, give and save.

There is no magical business or vacation get-away that is too good to pass up. As it turns out, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” And almost nothing is “free.”

I don’t know why some people don’t trust common knowledge and common sense. They seem to think what they don’t know is somehow hidden from the majority, and only accessible to the few who actually discover it.

I say BUNK.

There are no “10 easy steps” to happiness or success. That’s why this initiative, Get Control Of Your Life, doesn’t hand them out. We don’t sell sexy “solve-all-your-problem” formulas. Rather we encourage you to educate yourself, make wise decisions and develop a healthy lifestyle. Living a healthy and balanced life is hard work, and trying to circumvent the hard work by buying into formulas will never help; they will just make you more broke and keep you mired in personal dysfunction.

Somewhere over the rainbow is a fantastic place; that means it’s fictional.

Happiness is real; you just have to find it. It may be closer than you think.

Maybe, like the Samsung phone commercial, THE NEXT BIG THING IS ALREADY HERE. You just need to find and implement it! 

The Rainbow in the Park image is a wall mural available from http://kidinthemural.com/shop/large-wall-mural-rainbow-in-the-park/