– Thomas Szasz
This was one of my Google quotations today. I’ve been thinking about it off and on all day. Is happiness really imaginary?
I don’t think that it is….but I also don’t think that it’s a destination. Happiness comes in bits and pieces while we are living our lives. I’m not sure you can make it a goal, at least not directly. But I do think you can do things that have a happy side effect.
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I think we need to learn to notice the good things that make us happy and seek them out more, and avoid the things that make us unhappy, or learn why they make us unhappy and see if that is something we can learn to just feel neutral about. Both these things are not however easy to achieve, and in this world at least it seems it is hard to be perpetually happy, but I suspect it is not as such an impossible thing as long as one has enough varied sources of happiness.
I agree. Happiness is real, but it’s not constant. It’s possible to be more happy than not. It is not, however, a place we arrive and remain in.
You can’t maintain happiness. You can maintain contentment. When you learn to be content with what is, you will also experience more and lengthier periods of happiness because of it.
Agreed POC. I have some trouble with contentment or acceptance. Just because you’re content or accept who and where you are doesn’t mean you aren’t trying to improve, change and grow. It’s hard for me to reconcile the paradox.
Maybe it would help to think of it like this:
Accepting what is = accepting reality = contentment. Until you accept what is you are walking in quicksand, or snow, or swampy ground…there is no firm surface. You can’t push yourself higher because with each step you sink back down.
Contentment is the firm base underfoot that allows you to climb higher without sinking back down. So contentment is not anti-improvement or anti-change…it is what is required before there can be meaningful improvement.
That’s a very helpful way of looking at it. It’s like if I don’t accept myself for who I am why would I care enough to try to change or improve? Sometimes I think you need some burst of passion to change. I think it should be big and dramatic. But that type of passion doesn’t generally last. It’s the foundation of fad diets and exercise plans that are given up when the enthusiasm fades.