We are all children in some ways.
The biggest misconception of humankind is that happiness comes from outside of you. There’s only two versions of this desire for or from the world and if you didn’t achieve them in your own way, you never will.
The first is where you want something positive or negative to happen to the world. I’ll use the more common negative example but the same principle would apply to a positive wish. Maybe you want personal revenge against someone you feel is wrong. Maybe it’s some other form of misfortune such as mistakes they make because you think they deserve it. If these things do happen you feel very happy in the moment, but it’s temporary and fleeting. Before you know it you’ll go right back to feeling negative again. How do I know this? Because improving as a person doesn’t come from seeing what you want. It comes from adapting to what you didn’t. Children sheltered from reality don’t grow up to handle it well.
The second scenario is where you wanted something positive or negative from the world. Again, I’ll use the more common positive example here but if you want a negative thing, same rules. The most common wish being large amounts of money to solve all your problems. Another popular one being the idea of finding love. If these things do happen you’ll genuinly feel happy, but you won’t be ready for it and you’ll mess it up somehow mostly from fear of losing it. You’ll misspend the money or be a terrible partner who is left in the end. How do I know this? Because improving as a person doesn’t come from getting what you want. It comes from earning it yourself. Children given everything don’t grow up to appreciate it.
Why do you think children are so protected in society? Why do we have all these laws and rules designed to keep them from harms way? Obviously because they’re vulnerable and highly susceptible to the world around them. The reason they’re like this is because they haven’t grown up yet. They haven’t had the chance to learn their lessons and develop their character. They have to go through life first. Yet somehow, as adults, we wish to skip steps of life and get straight to the things we want right now without doing enough to get them ourselves.
An old woman can tie all her happiness and therefore her hatred to her ex husband who mistreated her. She’s like a child in relationships compared to a younger woman who made her own happiness and never depended on her boyfriend for it. Yet still that older woman will insist that all she wants is to see him suffer like he deserves and then she’ll be happy again. No, she needs to learn how to take responsibility for her own happiness.
An old man who traded his hours for money can have less financial understanding and sense than a young one who devoted much of his time to mastering money management. You better believe that old man will be like a child compared to the younger one when it comes to fiscal responsibility, but he’ll still insist all he needs is money. No, he needs to learn how to earn it for himself.
The fact of the matter is, whether you want change in the world or you want something to come from it. You are like a child who hasn’t learned how to achieve these things for yourself so if you received them by chance, you’re going to unintentionally ruin it. As much you might try to deny this and think you know better, the fact you haven’t earned or taken responsibility for your own happiness yet is proof of the character you lack and therefore evidence of your inability to handle the rewards of becoming that character.
You lose everything you gain in life until you are ready to keep it. You can’t have anything externally until you find it internally. Anyone who suffers was dependent on the world and anyone who prospers was independent of it. Every failure a weakness of reliance. Every success a strength of sovereignty. It is good to wish, dream, and find purpose in a greater goal. It is not good to ask for handouts or conditions that don’t involve you getting there yourself.
The first is where you want something positive or negative to happen to the world. I’ll use the more common negative example but the same principle would apply to a positive wish. Maybe you want personal revenge against someone you feel is wrong. Maybe it’s some other form of misfortune such as mistakes they make because you think they deserve it. If these things do happen you feel very happy in the moment, but it’s temporary and fleeting. Before you know it you’ll go right back to feeling negative again. How do I know this? Because improving as a person doesn’t come from seeing what you want. It comes from adapting to what you didn’t. Children sheltered from reality don’t grow up to handle it well.
The second scenario is where you wanted something positive or negative from the world. Again, I’ll use the more common positive example here but if you want a negative thing, same rules. The most common wish being large amounts of money to solve all your problems. Another popular one being the idea of finding love. If these things do happen you’ll genuinly feel happy, but you won’t be ready for it and you’ll mess it up somehow mostly from fear of losing it. You’ll misspend the money or be a terrible partner who is left in the end. How do I know this? Because improving as a person doesn’t come from getting what you want. It comes from earning it yourself. Children given everything don’t grow up to appreciate it.
Why do you think children are so protected in society? Why do we have all these laws and rules designed to keep them from harms way? Obviously because they’re vulnerable and highly susceptible to the world around them. The reason they’re like this is because they haven’t grown up yet. They haven’t had the chance to learn their lessons and develop their character. They have to go through life first. Yet somehow, as adults, we wish to skip steps of life and get straight to the things we want right now without doing enough to get them ourselves.
An old woman can tie all her happiness and therefore her hatred to her ex husband who mistreated her. She’s like a child in relationships compared to a younger woman who made her own happiness and never depended on her boyfriend for it. Yet still that older woman will insist that all she wants is to see him suffer like he deserves and then she’ll be happy again. No, she needs to learn how to take responsibility for her own happiness.
An old man who traded his hours for money can have less financial understanding and sense than a young one who devoted much of his time to mastering money management. You better believe that old man will be like a child compared to the younger one when it comes to fiscal responsibility, but he’ll still insist all he needs is money. No, he needs to learn how to earn it for himself.
The fact of the matter is, whether you want change in the world or you want something to come from it. You are like a child who hasn’t learned how to achieve these things for yourself so if you received them by chance, you’re going to unintentionally ruin it. As much you might try to deny this and think you know better, the fact you haven’t earned or taken responsibility for your own happiness yet is proof of the character you lack and therefore evidence of your inability to handle the rewards of becoming that character.
You lose everything you gain in life until you are ready to keep it. You can’t have anything externally until you find it internally. Anyone who suffers was dependent on the world and anyone who prospers was independent of it. Every failure a weakness of reliance. Every success a strength of sovereignty. It is good to wish, dream, and find purpose in a greater goal. It is not good to ask for handouts or conditions that don’t involve you getting there yourself.
