by Boaz Abel
You must be the change you wish to see in the world ~ Mohandas Gandhi

There are certain constants in this world and one of them are change. Last night I went to a benefit for Room to Read, an organization that raises funds so that children can afford books. It was a good event with a very good turn out. However it’s always the people that makes a function work, makes it worth going. And I met some very cool people, one person in particular that sparked me to write this  and gave me some ingredients to write this today. I’ll get to that in a bit.

Oprah sets the tone of the day
I am not a big Oprah fan but every so often I will surf past the station and catch something interesting… Okay but I do enjoy it. Yesterday was a show that featured director Tom Shadyac, Long story short, he directed films like Bruce Almighty and The Nutty Professor. He became a millionare from all of his work in Hollywood, however he was not happy and gave it all away. You can see more of his story on Oprah’s page here. I was impressed as to where he was going. Having gone through so many financial down turns in my life it made me feel a connection with folks rich or poor knowing that happiness is truly in ones soul.

Back to last night, There were many upscaled looking folks at this mid trendy little spot in the Westwood area. “I likes to mingle” and usually get lost in a world of people’s stories. No matter the suites, the fancy dresses, the big boobs, the bonus driven careers and big talk. There was an underlying tone of stress and unhappiness in  people living the so called rat race. Too much traffic, too much stress, too expensive, not enough time… not happy.

I was sitting with a person that I know will be a long time friend because we were on similar vibes. We had been chatting away for about an hour from everything from politics to the carmilized onions in my grilled cheese sandwich. Towards the end of the night a friend of his showed up, very attractive girl who was a riot. Before we knew it she was telling her story. She had been an executive for a long time, 100k plus jobs, high roller and big baller. She spoke of how after years of doing this she was unhappy for what ever reason, and quit. For a while she took classes to see what made her happy, pottery classes, Yoga and maybe even basket weaving, it wasn’t until she helped to decorate a friend’s room that she realized what made her happy. She ended up pursuing her passion from the bottom up. Something that can be crazy and demoralizing, but she took it in stride and very gracefully from what I can tell. She is now working as an intern for a prominent interior designer. From Exec to intern in less than 40. She has a blog that she writes that I think is an impromptu the changing life as we know it. Check out Almost40yearoldintern.com.

I use to work 3 jobs at one point of my married life, to live in a house that was 3 times more expensive than it was supposed to be, in an area that was socially depressed, for a person that didn’t really appreciate me or my hard work. I remember sleeping an hour a day and crawling to my bed from whatever job I just got back from. 22 hours of work, is that happiness? Is that normal? Just so you can say that you own a home, or can take your wife to dinner, or your son to Disneyland, because I was not happy or healthy.  This had to change. And I changed everything about my life learning from the rich, the poor, the middle class and others before me that changed their lives to be happy. And I am doing just what I love, may not be living in the lap of luxury, but I am doing things for those that inspired me. Maybe one day you will see it.

Change comes in so many ways, sometimes by choice as in my circumstance and by outside circumstances not really controlled by us as in the case of the almost40intern. How do we achieve change? Well we just change. And it is not determined by how much we make during that change, how long it takes us to get there or the magnitude of that change. All that matters is that we do something that makes a difference in our lives and others. If we can understand that we are the change that we want to see in the world, then why not make our world more rewarding and in turn make others worlds rewarding. How many people out there who are unhappy will have their lives affected by the Almost40yearoldintern. Or maybe even me (doubt it). This is the best time in almost forever for change. Change is not only looming over us as  individual but globally. I’m starting to realize that more people are less happier than they say they are.  Do we really want to be around unhappy people?

Your house, your money, your things and even the people that you are with does not make happiness. the ability to chnage for the better and being content with what you have makes you happy.