[...] son/friend/brother/cousin spends way more than he earns.  He’s constantly on the edge.  You’ve had to bail him out more times than you can [...]

Live like an animal.

Seriously. It’s the human consciousness that leads to neurosis which leads us all down some dark path of insanity (read a newspaper lately?).

Animals NEVER worry about trying to be something they are not. They live 100% as their true beings.
Animals NEVER worry about what they have or don’t have.
They just keep going and never waste energy or resources.

As the saying goes, “If you want any answer, look to Nature.”

Live like an animal, not like a savage, and you will be content.

Once you’ve arrived at that “destination,” you’ve been chasing, there’s something quite like postpartum depression that can befall you. Regardless of how wonderful the “destination,” the real thing can rarely match the ideal that you’ve crafted in your mind. Or the real experience is so fleeting that you’re left feeling aimless afterwards.

Crazy as it sounds, I’ve felt this in the months since my wife & I completed our protracted international adoption process. I had a very, very hard time with the wait to go get him, but at the same time, I ever so slightly miss the chase now that we have him and we’re all settled into domestic routines. We were so intensely goal-driven during the more than 2 years we worked towards the adoption that now that it’s done, there’s a subtle “what next?” feeling. I dearly love my new son and he’s keeping me plenty busy, but it’s just a much different, much less focused kind of busy…

[...] Frugal Dad: Do You Suffer From Destination Addiction? [...]

I saw that Oprah episode too, and the concept of “destination addiction” really rang true. Not just about spending and buying more “stuff” but just about life in general.

It reminded me to look around and see what I already have, and be thankful, because in the past this would have been a “destination” that I was aiming for. Here I am – be happy, already!! lol

When I get to be a teenager; when I get to be 21; when I’ve paid my student loan;when I get my own house; when I get married; when I have kids; when I get a raise; when I get promoted; when I get the boss’s job; when the kids leave home; when I retire; when…. too late.

Gratitude, not resentment. Appreciation not want.
Works for me!