Tiffany's Epiphany

Tiffany lay on her much-loved sleigh bed looking out of her luxury
flat. The city lights twinkled underneath a myriad of stars. She was
too tired and too drunk to take off her wine-stained designer dress and
her skyscraper heeled shoes. Her stomach felt heavy and bloated from a
spicy, sauce-covered, calorie-laden meal. She sighed. She would have to
spend extra time at the gym working off the evening's excess. Despite
her outward trappings of success and her growing reputation as a
party-animal, she wasn't happy. She balanced pleasure with pressure
constantly, always watching the clock, always looking ahead. She
briefly wondered how she could make things better but exhaustion closed
her eyes and she floated into velvety emptiness. Even there, her mind
was still running, still chasing. There was no rest even when she was
at rest.

The radio alarm announced the arrival of 6.30 am with: " &;#8230;
today is materialism. We think that we can buy paradise. We give up our
lives to careers that make increasing demands on our time so that we
can spend our salaries buying things that make up for having to work
unbelievably hard to pay for them in the first place. We need to reject
the constant quest for fulfilment when, in reality all we need to be
happy is to &;#8230; just be!"

Tiffany sat up in bed. That was it! That was the answer to all her
problems. Her mind raced as she made plans.

The week was filled with telephone calls and visits to friends and
various organisations. By Friday she'd: quit her high-powered job and
replaced it with 2 days work at a craft/gift shop; given up the lease
on her flat and found a clean but basic bedsit; cancelled her gym
membership; sold the leather suite and sleigh bed to her
soon-to-be-married friends for ?50; arranged for a local charity to
pick up the rest of her furniture; packed up her business suits and
party clothes for the Oxfam shop; made friends with her friendly
neighbourhood health shop owner. The adrenalin flowed and her heart
pounded each time she thought of her new life.

Two weeks later Tiffany lay on her mattress on the floor, gazing out of
the bedsit window at a blank brick wall. She could just see, if she
strained her neck and eyes, a lone star in the distant night sky. She
was too tired to take off her crumpled, sweat-stained, "CRYSTALS R US"
T shirt and her lace-up, flat-soled boots. Under the patchwork quilt,
her stomach burbled and exploded with the by-products of her healthy
wholegrain diet. The new muscles she'd found during Yoga and Tai Chi
classes ached, making it difficult to find a comfortable position. As
she closed her eyes to go to sleep she thought to herself "So this is
happiness. Funny, I thought it would feel better than this!"