"The grass isn't greener on the other side. It's green where you water it."
Three cheers for optimism! Huzzah! Yeah, cuz we're all so damn happy, right? I hate it when people are right. It's the rightness that rubs me rather uncomfortably. Because I don't like admitting that I'm wrong. Looking at things positively is the way we should look at things. It's either that, or we all just look at everything in our lives through the lens of misery. Which sounds better to you? But people don't understand! Being positive requires SO much more effort than they realize. Especially when you don't think you HAVE things to be positive about. Well, the grass is always greener on the other side. Isn't it?
Why do we use that expression? Why does the grass always have to be greener somewhere else? Isn't that a little depressing? Like, I'll never be as happy as I can be because it's always going to be better somewhere else. It doesn't exactly sound depressing. But let's dissect this. I'm sitting on one side of a white picket fence. There's a picnic table where children are blowing bubbles and eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. A dog runs along side a boy riding a bike. The sun shines perfectly on the tree whose shade I sit beneath. Birds sing until their heartstrings burst and squirrels frolic about on their daily business of gathering food. Across the way, I see my house with a small red door, where inside I know my loving family awaits my return from the grassy hill I sit upon. I feel no pain. I feel no sadness. Everything is simply beautiful. But......is this really as good as it gets?
You could be perfectly satisfied with where you are. But the nagging feeling that it's not as good as it could be pulls at you. Keeps you searching for something better. But what if, by constantly searching for something better, we're actually missing out on all the good that's already present in our lives? Maybe we're so obsessed with finding the greener grass that we don't see the flowerbeds surrounding our feet. That's why I love that quote. Because it's true. The grass isn't greener somewhere else far away. Someplace seemingly unreachable. The grass is green where you take the time to nourish it. Your life is good and you are happy where you put in the patience to watch it flourish. Your life isn't good because you've happened upon a lush hill of verde.
This makes it a little easier for me to stay positive and optimistic. Because I'm in charge of my own optimism. Which, I guess, takes a lot less effort than I thought. I can choose to water the grass at my feet or let it starve while I search for "something better". Like I said, I hate being wrong. But I was wrong, essentially. I was wrong in thinking that we can never really have things that keep us happy. Even in the sorrow and the suffering, there is happiness. As long as I keep the green under the soles of my shoes well-nourished and flourishing. Because, the grass isn't greener on the other side. It's green where you water it.
