Drew's Reminder,
Let’s face it. We live in a material world. Many of us have a strong desire to collect material things. We all want what we consider the basic materials of life that make us comfortable. Things like a house, a car and clothes. For some us those are just things we need to survive and therefore we work to obtain them. For some of us those material things have a deeper meaning in our lives. They are a status symbol to show how successful or unsuccessful we are or have been. In many of those cases we look at those material things as vehicles to make us happy. Yet in the end no big house or nice car by itself can make us happy.
As I’ve stated before we aren’t really interested in the nice big house. What we are interested in is how that nice big house will make us feel. Yet if you don’t concentrate on those feelings you run the risk of getting that nice big house and then not achieving the feelings you wanted in the first place. In those cases you end up chasing the next big material thing. Sound familiar? I’m sure you know someone who is on that constant chase and they never end up in the final destination of being happy. Because no matter where you are in the spectrum of having material things you have the capability to be happy right now. That’s because happiness is a feeling. You have beliefs. You have thoughts. Your beliefs influence your thoughts and your thoughts create your feelings. There’s nothing outside that can control that. No material thing can create your beliefs. No outside material thing can create your thoughts. Only you can.
Now instead of material things let's turn the discussion to experiences. I believe experiences are much more valuable to all of us than material things. You see with an experience you are actually using your mind to evaluate the experience. To experience anything you must use your mind to have thoughts about the experience. In good experiences those thoughts lead to good feelings. Several experiences can also lead to you having beliefs about something associated with those experiences. An experience can have a long lasting effect on your life if it creates or even reinforces a belief. Beliefs lead to thoughts, thoughts lead to feelings, feelings lead to actions and actions lead to results. So great experiences ultimately lead to great results in your life. This can lead to a wonderful circle of life. You have a great experience. You create or reinforce beliefs. Your beliefs create great thoughts. Your great thoughts lead to great feelings. Your great feelings lead you to taking great actions. Your great actions lead to great results. Eventually one of those results will be another great experience. Therefore you get caught up in a wonderful circle of life.
A nice house in itself won’t lead to those type of results. Unless you create great experiences in that house. A brand new car won’t lead to those type of results. Unless you create great experiences in that car. A diamond watch won’t lead to those type of results. Unless you create great experiences due to that diamond watch. The latest pair of Gucci shoes won’t lead to those type of results, unless those Gucci shoes create great experiences. I know there will be some people who say those material things will create great experiences. My only challenge to you is that you could create those experiences regardless of the material item. Because an experience is all in your mind. So why take a chance on spending money or time on a material item that may create an experience? Instead just spend your money or time on creating a great experience. Take the element of chance out of the picture and get right to the desired result.
I’d like to give you an example of an experience that continues to bring great dividends to my life, tailgating. On the surface a tailgate can look like different things to different people. To some it’s a chance to drink beer before going into the big game. For others it’s a chance to eat some meat from the grill and relax before going into the big game. Then you have the people who don’t even go to the game they just love the opportunity to sit outside with fans and watch the game on TV. For me above all a tailgate is a chance to see friends and have fun together. The game is just a means to bring everyone together. There’s nothing like seeing people you haven’t seen all month or sometimes all year at a tailgate. Especially since you know you are just there to enjoy each other’s company. Sure there is loud music (if you are lucky enough to have DJ at your tailgate), there’s barbeque smoke and there’s random people walking around that you don't know. But when you keep the perspective in mind that you are hanging with friends and sometimes family (framily), a tailgate is a wonderful experience.
If you allow yourself to fully experience the benefits of just hanging out with friends and family (framily), you can impact so many good beliefs you have inside you. Your belief that you are loved and appreciated. Your belief that people are good natured and you attract good natured people into your life. Your belief that it is so simple to be happy just by enjoying yourself with food, drinks and friends. Just think about how positive this experience can be on your life. Think of the great thoughts you will have about your friends enjoying the meat that you grilled on the barbecue or the nice mixed drink you made especially for them. If you are the DJ you can appreciate the song that you played that got them so excited and hype.
If you open your mind you can also think about the possibilities of doing similar things in different places during different times of the year (traveling tailgates, renting a cabin in the mountains, a picnic in the park, a dinner with friends, a night out on the town together). Those thoughts will make you feel so good. You’ll be happy. You’ll be appreciative. You will be at peace with life no matter what outside circumstances may be bringing you down outside the tailgate. That peace will lead to great thoughts. Those thoughts will lead to great feelings. Those great feelings will lead you to take action. You’ll take action like planning an annual trip around the country to go to a random college football game with your friends. You’ll take action like going home and sharing your experience with others so they join the tailgate and add to the great atmosphere. You’ll take action like going to work on Monday with a great attitude because you had such a good time at the tailgate. You will be ready to take on the world. The list goes on and on.
This is my depiction of a tailgate. This is what it means to me. It is an experience. It's an experience I wouldn't trade for a nice gold watch or a brand new car. Those material items won't make me feel the way a tailgate makes me feel. Those material things won't compare because they won't give me the same experience. Sure a new car will drive me to work in a quieter cabin or softer seats. The problem is that experience won't have the same impact on me. A quiet cabin and soft seats won't reinforce or create any new beliefs in me. It won't bring about great thoughts. Without the great thoughts it won't lead to a surge of great feelings. I need those great feelings to make me take great actions so I can get great results. If you don't agree let me prove my point. I wrote this blog because of the impact tailgating has on me. There will be one person who will read this and make the decision to put off buying a new car or a new purse and they will take that money and spend it on an experience. That experience will have a great impact on their life. They will end up with a great result and because of that and so will I. As always I implore you to Enjoy the Journey!
With gratitude,
Drew
With gratitude,
Drew
