Compound Interest

compound interest (n.) Interest on borrowing and accrued interest: interest that is calculated on the combined total of the original sum, borrowed principal, and the interest it has already accrued.

"Albert Einstein, when asked what he considered to be the most powerful force in the universe, answered: 'Compound interest! What you have become is the price you paid to get what you used to want.'"  Mignon McLaughlin

When I first read this quote a couple of days ago, it really resonated with me.  What price have I paid to get what I used to "want"?  I realized some time ago that I'd become someone I didn't like very much, someone I didn't really know.  I'd been running from myself... my true self...with all of the direction of a hamster in a wheel.  I had become lethargic, mentally and physically.  I had been so impatient...with myself and others.  I had expected so much from everyone and so little from myself. 

I'd always punished myself because I felt that I was the "mistakes" I'd made.  I was the person I felt other people saw.  I know now that I am also more than that.  I am me... full of splendor and turpitude.  I am more than the "mistakes" I've made; I am more than the life I've been living...more than meets their eyes...more than I have perceived myself to be.  I now want to work toward something, instead of running away from everything.  I want to seek instead of hide.  To feel instead of internalize.  To forgive instead of chastise.  My eyes are opening now.  There is so much more...to do...to feel...to be.  So much more that I CAN do... feel... be...

The simple, unchangeable fact is that the compound interest of my life continues to accrue.  Tomorrow I will be more than I am today...   And it's what I do with the "interest" that now matters.  Perception is everything... As the saying goes: "The kind of life you will have isn't determined by what happens to you, it's determined by your reaction to what happens to you."

"Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts" -Albert Einstein