Happy Hour

"Hi, Bob! How are you?"

"I'm... practicing contentment and gratitude."

"Practicing?"

"Yes. What's your favorite kind of pie?"

"I don't know."

"Ok. Suppose you have some cherry pie–"

"I like blackberry pie."

"Ok, you have some blackberry pie, and you're overjoyed, but then somehow you notice that your capacity to enjoy blackberry pie expanded geometrically, yet you still have the same amount of pie. You can either mourn the 'loss' of that which you already didn't have, or you can settle for what you do have, or you try to get more, or you can enjoy more what you already have."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about your choices after you come to see that not only do you want a bigger wedge of pie, you understand your entire pie tin is much larger than you realized. So that slice that once seemed would be sufficient now takes up even less of the overall pie. What do you do?"

"And that's how you are?"

"No, how I am is practicing contentment and gratitude."

"...And... How are you doing that? With pie?"

Either I'm fortunate my livelihood does not depend on my ability to weave a metaphor or I have no idea how to make party talk. But I am getting better and contentment and gratitude!