Beneath the Spin * Eric L. Wattree
THE FINE ART OF CHILLIN'
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Life is short, and the key to life is happiness, not spending all of your waking hours chasing a dollar. As long as you have enough money to live comfortably and pay your bills, that's all you need. So instead of dedicating your life to chasing a dollar, you should spend your time doing things with your family, developing your mind, and pursuing the things that you enjoy in life. We should dedicate our lives to being more accessible to our mates, and making our children more stable and informed individuals, not running around trying to prove to strangers how much of a bigshot we can be.
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When my late wife and I first got married at 19 and 21 years old we didn't have a dime, but we would get all dressed up in matching outfits, catch the bus to the show, and then spend the rest of the day downtown "eye-buying." Then when we were done we'd come back home and make love - after we took a basket of bottles to Fine's Market to help buy dinner. Those were the rough times, when we were kids and just starting out. But now that she's gone, those are the days that I cherish most, not the ones when we were much more prosperous. So I've long since recognized that some of the happiest days of my life didn't have a thing to do with money.
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I know, a lot of people are gonna think I'm crazy, but that's why so many of them are unhappy, having strokes, getting divorced, and suffering from high blood pressure, because instead of allowing themselves to be happy, they're busy trying to impress others with how much money they can hoard, how big a car they can drive, and how many women they can juggle. What's wrong with making one woman happy and basking in her love for you? - "Hey, baby, I'll give you a piece of my chili dog if you'll bring me some ice for my gin."
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Take Trump, for example. He has billions of dollars, but he doesn't seem like a happy man to me, and neither do the many millionaires in congress. They seem like people who are desperate to get more of what's not making them happy in the first place, and they don't know why. But I do know why, because they've allowed this capitalists system to brainwash them into believing that their self-worth is defined by how many dollars they can hoard, even at the expense of stealing it from others and making other people's lives miserable. We have this need to always want more - which has led to slavery, murder, mayhem, and the genocide of over 100 million Native Americans - because the blind pursuit of dollars has become the be all and end all of life. I think that’s bullshit. Give me a John Coltrane CD, a comfortable lounger, a chili dog, and a pint of gin, and I'm in Heaven.
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I mean, what do I need a billion dollars for? As long as I can pay my house note and I've got the price of another chili dog, why do I need a mansion when I can only live in one room at a time? The answer is, I don't. All I need is tranquility, peace of mind, and the knowledge that I'll be more in touch with reality tomorrow than I was yesterday - and dollars can't buy me that, because once I hoard 'em, I've got to fight to keep 'em. So it's a never-ending rat race.
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So you can go out there and waste your life always hustlin’ all you like. I’m gonna to spend my life contemplating the wonders of the universe, squeezin' my woman's fine, but growin' body - "Yeah it's growin', baby, but that's all right with me" - and enjoying what I already have. And no, I'm not lazy, I just don't let others tell me what's important in life. Life is about livin’, not hustlin’, and the key to happiness is keepin’ life simple.
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So naw, I can’t be out there chasin’ no dollars with you today, homeboy, I’m much too busy chillin’. I'm workin' on my epitaph - "Here lies Eric. He wasn't rich, but he sure knew how to kick-it like he was . . . "
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"Hey, I like that tune. Turn up the radio and pass me my ax - and give me my chili dog back; you don't need it . . . But I love you anyway, baby, long butt and all. You deserve me. Are you happy?"
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See, man, she's happy, so all I need is her, and another chili dog - "With onions this time, baby."
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So man, the only thing good about money is having enough to make her smile.
CHILLIN'
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"HOME BASE TO VOYAGER, COME IN PLEASE."
Eric L. Wattree
Http://wattree.blogspot.com Ewattree@Gmail.com . Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does. |
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