There’s something I’ve been meaning to share here for a while, to let people know where I’m coming from in a simple way.  The photos I post could lead one to speculate and wonder all sorts of things about me.  This includes money, since we all have to deal with it in some way.  The thing that I want to share is how little money has to do with what a person can do or experience, that as far as I can tell, life really is a result of how we think.  My life is a good example.

It might come as a surprise to know that for the last couple of years, I’ve been living on less than $50 per day average.  You do the math.  This includes 100% of my expenses; rent, vehicle, gas, food, air travel, hotels, etc.  One hundred percent.  When I look at my own photos and reflect on my life from day to day, month to month, the reality amazes me.  I pinch myself regularly to make sure I’m awake and not dreaming.  There is no one I would trade places with, money can’t buy the good things I experience.  Additionally, many things I experience that are usually thought to cost a substantial amount of money oftentimes cost me only my time and interest.

There’s no rational explanation in conventional terms for the extent of the magic I’m blessed with.  Everything always unfolds perfectly for me.  People are always so good to me.  As dbbaba commented recently, I’m “one lucky guy“.  I’m blessed with incredibly good fortune, have been ever since I was very young.  Some years I have lots of money, some years the well seems pretty dry in that regard, but I never lack and the magnitude of life’s wonderful adventures stays in a very high range, has for decades now.

The knack seemed to be following my feelings, allowing things to happen, following my nose.  Yet, as mentioned earlier this year, upon reading “Ask and It is Given” it was like somebody flipped a switch and made things so much clearer.  The new understanding allows intentional and methodical manifesting.  My awareness of how I think is much more thorough now, improving all the time.

This doesn’t mean that I know what will happen tomorrow, only that I intend to be happy, no matter what.  I take the job of being happy as seriously as I can take anything.  It’s a great thing that the happier I am, the more fortunate I am.  But it’s something that takes diligence, to maintain and foster.  It takes practice practice practice all day, every day, as much as possible. It’s a rewarding practice, a joyful practice.

My reason for sharing this is because it’s so common to focus on money, even here on GoldTent.  We talk about gold having real value, but there’s something that’s far more golden than gold itself.  If there’s a gift I can share with fellow Tenters, it’s the encouragement to value your happiness many times over whatever the value of gold is to you.  Gold will not bring you happiness, it comes from a different place.  Secure your happiness first.  I don’t pretend to have a corner on the market of happiness, as I know that everyone here lives a rich life, their own life.  But I feel good about encouraging everyone to understand what truly makes them happy and to continuously expand that part of their lives.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving Day, today and every day.  The things to be thankful for are beyond comprehension.

*GB