You probably don’t have to look very far before finding past examples where you’ve implemented a variation of the following logic in your mind: once this event happens, then I’ll be content.
Once this project is finished, then I’ll be happy.
Once I get this new job, then I’ll be relieved.
Is there not a version of reality where you can be happy before the conditions you set?
Is it not possible to be happy during a challenging project or before it?
Is it not possible to be happy while you’re searching for a job?
What law, exactly, would fundamentally restrict the possibility of happiness from you at any given moment?
If it is you that can create the conditions for your happiness (if x happens, then I can be happy), are you not by that same token empowered to remove those conditions?
Is it not possible to resolve right now to be happy in light of everything and despite whatever conceived conditions remain unmet?
I've been thinking about people and
Recently though I've come to think that what we want is out of our hands. In the short run at least.
In the long game we have control, but in the moment... what we want is what we want.
For example, I can't explain why I like coffee or why I chose Data Science as a career path.
The insight that I've arrived at more recently is that it's entirely possible to not get what you want and still decide to be happy... another thing you want.
They don't have to be mutually exclusive.
A long time ago I read in a magazine about a family's house that had burned down. The father's response seemed very stoic and in line with this idea -- he remarked: "My house can be burnt down and I can be sad, or my house can be burnt down and I can be happy. Either way, my house is gone."
since we want what we want we use things like
if we could just want what we wanted then we wouldn't need things like reflection and writing lol.