I Wanna Do What I Wanna Do

There are people in this world who do what they really want. They can afford to. Or they just do, without worrying about putting bread on the table.
And then there are those who worry all the time, and thus spending most of their life energy doing what they don't really like, in order to--survive.
I am the second type.
Yet I aspire to be the first.
How I do bridge the gap?
Which type do you belong?
If you are the first type, how do you manage?

"Turn Off the TV"

I just heard of a book called "100 Simple Secrets of Happy People". It has 100 short chapters, each based on the conclusions of a different study to show how happy people derive their hapiness.

There is a chapter called "Turn Off the TV" and it begins thus: "Television is a creamy filling that distracts us from the substance of our lives." This statement is backed by a 1998 study by someone named Wu: "Watching too much TV can triple our hunger for more possessions, while reducing our personal contentment by about 5% for every hour a day we watch."

Actually I never read this book. I'm just quoting off from a newsletter I recieved. Without hearing about this study, I stopped watching TV five years ago because intuitively I felt that the TV was sucking up my contentment bit by bit. Actually, glossy fashion magazines did the same to me, that's why I abandoned the half a dozen subscriptions at the same time, and never read those anymore. The simple act of abandoning these habits may not have improved my personal contentment very much. However, the time I have gained has been used for more creative activities and more effective relaxation methods--which definitely have increased my happiness.

My First Oil Painting

This is a painting I "debbled" at the age of 5 (roughly). I painted on one piece of paper with oil paint stolen from my dad's palette. First I made a birthday cake. When my parents guessed that it was going to be a cake, I quickly added layers so it became a ship. They they guessed right again! I didn't want them to win, so I started painting a woman's head. As a result, the ship became a hat! Alas, there was not enough space for the entire head. So I had to add another piece of paper to make do! There's why the painting is the way it is, made up of two separate piece of paper.

Today, the painting is hanging in my parents' home as a reminder of their absent daughter.