It stopped me short. "Happy for you. You deserve it," the text said. It sounded like a greeting card. "No I don't," my mind replied. Then my fingers followed suit. The greeting card text was an answer from a good friend after I had texted her about my upcoming travel plans. It's out of context and there's a lot of other factors playing into this interaction, but it brought me to another epiphany. (I've been having a lot of them lately, by the way. Is this a 40's thing? This epiphany thing?)I digress. Anyhoo... I'm here to tell you. Stop doing things because you deserve it. If you use the reward system for everything you do, you're limiting yourself. Not only are you limiting the (in number and variety) experiences you can have, but you're limiting yourself from enjoying even the simplest of life's pleasures. Unless, of course, you're a narcissist and believe you deserve everything. You don't have to have the permission derived from "I deserve it" to enjoy life. Guilt is a constant companion to only doing things because you deserve it. Because. What if you don't deserve it? Then what? See how crippling this practice is to full enjoyment of life? Stop it. Guilt limits.
Do it because you want to. Do it because you need to. Do it because you're afraid to. Do it because someone needs you to. Do it because someone asks you to. But don't ever, ever do it because you deserve to.
Freedom comes from simply enjoying the windfalls that come your way, not because you deserve it, but because they happened. And because you made them happen. And because others made them happen for you. No justification needed. No strings attached.
"Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
