The Grass Is Greener Where You Water It

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” —Theodore Roosevelt

Here’s a funny story: a new age thinker died and went to heaven. Upon entering the pearly gates, he saw two signs directing him to his final destination. One said: "This way to God"; and another sign that said: "This way to a workshop to find God." Out of habit, he took the path of the workshop.

Laughing at myself, there have been times where I have been so caught up in the “process” of creating that I forgot to take into account much of what I had already created, both good and bad. Ironically, all the tools I’d needed to help me get to the next step in life were laid out right in front of me. But I’d made the mistake of disregarding them as insignificant in my seemingly never-ending quest to manifest the life of my dreams.

But, no more. We all long for a better life; longing and desire are an integral part of being human. But really, how does one create a better life? When I was a child, I would close my eyes and pretend I was somewhere else, or with someone else, or doing something else.

But as an adult, I have found that this doesn’t always instantly manifest my next, new reality. In fact, sometimes fantasy can be a distraction. There have been times where I’ve gotten side-tracked into simple escapism, which is really just a creative urge with no traction, and all it did was create a greater sense of divide between me and the life I envisioned.

The ability to deliberately engage the creative process is a powerful aspect of our motivation. But my greatest hurdle was always this: "Where do I start?" I later found that this was a common obstacle for most people to overcome. Hence, we see the popularity of so many self-help workshops on creating or manifesting the life of your dreams. Many of us could all use a little boost, it seems.

But here’s the good news: The first step in being able to create a better life is easier to find than you might think. Every key, every tool that you will ever need, is right in front of you—in the groundwork of your current life.

Our dreams are born of the seeds of the life we are currently living. There is no “there” there; there is only what we’ve got. So you do what you can with what you’ve got, where you are, as the challenged president Theodore Roosevelt said. It is from this honest space that great, fulfilling lives are born, even if from the ashes of a difficult life.

You say: "So much of my life is either drab, dysfunctional, or otherwise undesirable. Who wants to create more of that?" Perfect! The only way out is through. Even if there are aspects of your life that make you suffer or make you feel uncomfortable, these are helpful in that they provide contrast. Face them. Look them squarely in the eye. But rather than dwelling on a difficult situation, seeing the dysfunction of your life as contrast is helpful in that you can then deliberately, right from where you are, and begin to imagine and emotionally connect to something better. It sounds simplistic, but it is a fundamental step for a conscious creator.

It’s easy to look out into the world and say others have it better than us, that the grass is greener over "there." But the reality is that our attention brings life force along with it. The grass is always greenest where we water it.