I Am Trying to Find Happiness
I have been putting a lot of effort into this lately. I, like so many others, have had a difficult time finding my "place" in this world. I suppose much of the trouble comes from the way we are raised in USA. We have definitive tasks and events, superiors and inferiors, all throughout our education. Then, once the education is complete (or failed) there is no more supplied direction.
Then it's like, "Now go!"
But, the problem is it is not viewed as a Starting point - but instead it is more of a finish line. People view it as "I am FINALLY graduating - It's about time I got to take a break!"
We have this really confused view that life starts and stops in this country (and perhaps in some other ones, it's hard for me to make that assumption) and the fact is that life does not start and stop - it's just one continuous journey and we are always "doing."
For instance, we even have weeks of the year set up to be separate little races. Each week starts at Monday and ends at Sunday, with the end of the day on Friday being viewed as "the end." The weekend is the reward! Because of course you deserve to "do nothing" or "do whatever you feel like doing" at the end. (We also view things this way with our careers and life - how often have you heard a person say "I'll do that when I retire." or "After the kids move out, that's when we will get the boat and start having fun."
The way life works, is that it's always going! The start was when we were born! There is no other ending other than death!
Happiness is truly a method of traveling and if you don't "feel happy" now, then it's unlikely you will achieve some goal and then "happiness" will constantly overwhelm you. I think we view happiness much like we view becoming a multimillionaire (again, in the USA), there is a definitive line. If you only have $999,900.00; then you are definitely not a millionaire. If you are still working, then you are definitely not happy - how could you be? You are working, you aren't done - work is known to be bad in the USA. It is a 4 letter word, after all.
This trouble actually spreads to the perception of our population as well. Many people are brought up with a black and white view of things - in fact, I almost think it's the average situation in America.
If you do something and it wasn't right - then it was wrong. If the stove isn't hot - then it's cold. If the light isn't on - then it's off.
The problem is that so many things are not right or wrong, they aren't good or bad - they are somewhere in between.
For instance, work - we talk about work as kids and we think of it as bad. It is work - the opposite of fun! If fun is good then work must be bad.
Not only that, but there are cool kids, and uncool kids. The cool kids usually don't listen to the adults, this is good - because adults are bad (from the viewpoint of other children.)
This starts out the lifelong view of "This versus that," and I argue it likely helps engender many issues with society.
If work was considered cool - what else would change? Would people who got good grades all of a sudden be cooler in school? Would leadership and problem solving become more laudable characteristics - from a popularity point of view?
We have an amazing country. That doesn't mean it's the best, or that others are wrong, if they are different. If it's good, it doesn't mean we cannot identify issues and improve upon those - and through those efforts improve the entire country. We have gotten WAY too invested into this "I'm right, and that means you're wrong" type of discourse.
If I didn't have such a checkered (maybe just black) past, I would seriously consider doing something in the realm of politics. Unfortunately my behavior during youth likely removed the potential of holding any serious political office in the future.
Then it's like, "Now go!"
But, the problem is it is not viewed as a Starting point - but instead it is more of a finish line. People view it as "I am FINALLY graduating - It's about time I got to take a break!"
We have this really confused view that life starts and stops in this country (and perhaps in some other ones, it's hard for me to make that assumption) and the fact is that life does not start and stop - it's just one continuous journey and we are always "doing."
For instance, we even have weeks of the year set up to be separate little races. Each week starts at Monday and ends at Sunday, with the end of the day on Friday being viewed as "the end." The weekend is the reward! Because of course you deserve to "do nothing" or "do whatever you feel like doing" at the end. (We also view things this way with our careers and life - how often have you heard a person say "I'll do that when I retire." or "After the kids move out, that's when we will get the boat and start having fun."
The way life works, is that it's always going! The start was when we were born! There is no other ending other than death!
Happiness is truly a method of traveling and if you don't "feel happy" now, then it's unlikely you will achieve some goal and then "happiness" will constantly overwhelm you. I think we view happiness much like we view becoming a multimillionaire (again, in the USA), there is a definitive line. If you only have $999,900.00; then you are definitely not a millionaire. If you are still working, then you are definitely not happy - how could you be? You are working, you aren't done - work is known to be bad in the USA. It is a 4 letter word, after all.
This trouble actually spreads to the perception of our population as well. Many people are brought up with a black and white view of things - in fact, I almost think it's the average situation in America.
If you do something and it wasn't right - then it was wrong. If the stove isn't hot - then it's cold. If the light isn't on - then it's off.
The problem is that so many things are not right or wrong, they aren't good or bad - they are somewhere in between.
For instance, work - we talk about work as kids and we think of it as bad. It is work - the opposite of fun! If fun is good then work must be bad.
Not only that, but there are cool kids, and uncool kids. The cool kids usually don't listen to the adults, this is good - because adults are bad (from the viewpoint of other children.)
This starts out the lifelong view of "This versus that," and I argue it likely helps engender many issues with society.
If work was considered cool - what else would change? Would people who got good grades all of a sudden be cooler in school? Would leadership and problem solving become more laudable characteristics - from a popularity point of view?
We have an amazing country. That doesn't mean it's the best, or that others are wrong, if they are different. If it's good, it doesn't mean we cannot identify issues and improve upon those - and through those efforts improve the entire country. We have gotten WAY too invested into this "I'm right, and that means you're wrong" type of discourse.
If I didn't have such a checkered (maybe just black) past, I would seriously consider doing something in the realm of politics. Unfortunately my behavior during youth likely removed the potential of holding any serious political office in the future.
