Happiness
I was musing on happiness last night and The Grasshopper had this to say:
“If happiness were a town, it would be filled with transients.”
Happiness is marketed to us as though it is a place. It’s not. It’s a state of mind.
Have you ever noticed that happiness, by and large, is dependent on something happening for you to be happy? That alone should tell you something about how we’ve been conditioned.
Look at advertising. Much of it will focus on your dissatisfaction or unhappiness with something, and then provide the product or service that promises perpetual happiness. We then go looking for the transportation to take us to this mystical place and wind up on a roller coaster ride.
I want to recognize happiness when it shows up at my door and enjoy it for as long as the visit lasts. I don’t expect it to be a permanent houseguest. That expectation alone causes unhappiness.
I believe it’s prudent for us to keep our happiness filter clean. That means to condition ourselves to be able to see the opportunities for happiness. I’m sure you know people who have their filters so clogged by being miserable, that they miss seeing potential happy moments. They also suffer from the illusion that happiness is a place. Their misery stems from believing they’ll never get there; yours comes from believing you will.
As long as you believe happiness is a place to get to, you will chase the horizon.
There is a perspective worth adopting that is helpful to those who continually expect the unrealistic: Seek excellence instead of perfection.
The new angle of view for those looking to live in “Happy” (Population Zero) is: Seek peacefulness and you’ll naturally recognize more happiness.
All the best,
John
http://GrasshopperNotes.com/blog
http://cdbaby.com/cd/johnmorgan
http://www.cafepress.com/grasshoppernote/3580301
Be Sociable, Share!
