Forget About What You Had

I was watching Oprah (don't ask) last week with my wife, and the guest was Suze Orman, the Personal Finance lady (my moniker). I have heard her speak, and the audience (in my opinion and experience) seems to be women. Plus my sister reads her voraciously.

She was there to give people some concrete to-dos in light of the recession. What to pay off, how to manage cash, etc. Then she made a statement that stuck with me. She said, focus on what you have, not what you had. Now this is different from, focus on what you have not what you don't have. It's much harder to live life in the now without what you once had, than to fantasize about that which you've never tasted. However, the former is good medicine for contentment, while the latter is the thirst the may never be quenched.