Freedom Countdown

Archive for the ‘Dreams’ Category

I love Artisteer.  I’ve tried about 5 different tools to make a blog or a website and they’ve all been a lot of work, even though they claimed to be simple.  Artisteer truly is point and click and I’ve been able to do everything that I’ve wanted to do.  Plus for a $50 price tag, I can make as many website or blog templates that I want and none of them look the same.

I received feedback that my site was too blue.  And I agreed.   Plus I didn’t like the stock photo from Artisteer.  So I used Picasa to crop a picture of my grandfather’s windmill in Oklahoma  and I changed up the colors a little.  I like the new, clean, less blue look.

I think about the family farm in Oklahoma a lot and to me it represents a simpler time.  Of course, I was young and carefree when I was there, so no wonder Grandma’s house was so great.  For years, and even now, when I think about escaping or running away, this is where my mind takes me.

How many times have you thought that?  How many times in one day have you thought that?  On an intellectual level, I know it isn’t really true.  I know happiness comes from within, that it’s a choice and all that.  But I tend to think that it’s the last piece of the puzzle in my pursuit of every day serenity.  If I could just quit, I’d be there because the rest of my life is pretty great.

Well last week I was vividly reminded of how little what I do to make money has on my happiness.  Nothing tragic happened, my daughter simply suffered a crushing blow at a state level athletic competition.  We all should have been excited she came in second in the state in her event, but somehow for the next two days I couldn’t shake the sadness I felt for her.  She had wanted to win so badly.  Even my excitement for my fledgling business couldn’t shake me from my funk.

Of course, by the third day, my perspective was coming back and the pride in what she had accomplished replaced the other emotions.  But then,  just as I was recovering,  if you will, I ran into some frustrating problems with an order I was placing for widgets.  I wasted many hours on the task and frankly felt some of the angst I feel at my job.

If you’re hoping to get happiness or even to get away from problems, it isn’t going to happen with a small business.  As a matter of fact, the number of problems will multiply because, you’re it.  There is no procurement group, no accounts payable, no sales team, no customer service department.  You’re all of those things.  And that’s actually what I like about it.  I’m in control and I can make it be what I want it to be.  Maybe that’s the kind of happiness I think I’ll find when I quit my job.