What did I do to deserve this?

Sometimes the life of our dreams includes things and events we don't like at all, and we wonder why.  We wonder if we have done something wrong.  One of the tenents of Buddhism is that every day things happen that we don't like - it's the human condition and everyone experiences this - even in the life of our dreams.  Examples:  missed planes, traffic jams, getting sick, not getting a raise - the list could be very long.  We act surprised because we are surprised.  Somehow we got the idea that everything is supposed to go smoothly so we are upset.  This is what causes our suffering - being surprised.  What if instead we responded to these things as though the universe was giving us an opportunity to learn something.  What if we thought to ourselves:  "Well, since everything is going wrong, the universe must be telling me it's time for me to take a break and rest."  Hmmm.  There might be innumerable ways we could respond that would be beneficial instead of being upset.

What If...?

This is my cat, Cisco.  He knows what he wants at all times.  He has never been confused.  First priority for his attention is food, water, and a clean place to eliminate.  He is rather picky about all three and expects me to do a good job at providing exactly what he wants. When I've not done well, he calls my attention to the situation by giving me a whole lot of loving attention and then drawing my attention to the situation.  His very next priority is love and he is as good at giving it as he is at receiving it.  Then comes lots and lots of sleep.  Finally he appears to be on a mission to get people who don't love cats to love him anyway.  It appears to be his mission  in life.  He has never been influenced by his parents or his peers to want anything other than those priorities.  He is impervious to ads on television or any place else.  I have learned a lot from him.  A great deal of my life has been spent in unlearning what I have been taught to want that hasn't benefited me in any way whatsoever.  At almost seventy I find that I am letting go of still more things that I have been taught to believe would make me happy or at least happier.  Manicures, for example, are supposed to make me feel pampered and get me compliments (or at least no criticism) on my well-kept nails.  When I was doing this it got to be a burden.  It cost both money and time but began to cease making me feel pampered.  At my age compliments and criticism don't do much for me anyway.  So I've taken to just cutting my nails short once a week.  I sure hope I'm able to lose everything unnecessary for happiness by the time I leave the planet!

My suggestion to all of us is to spend some time thinking about how we spend our time and money.  There are no right or wrong answers.  But consider the possibility that you were taught some things that don't really contribute to your happiness but just benefit the folks that sell them to you.  In order to find the life of your dreams, you might want to let a lot of those things go so that you can have the time, energy and money to do the things that REALLY make you happy.