Seek content-ness, not happiness. Happiness comes later.
In my early-twenties, I kept thinking that I always wanted happiness, and if I wasn't then something was wrong. I later realized that it was the pursuit of something that I could never attain that was draining and I realized that was the wrong path. I cannot attain perfection. So I decided to look for a better life-path that I could sustain, feel comfortable, and be content for long periods of time. Happiness comes later, naturally almost. It comes in small packets sometimes. Sometimes I don't even notice.
It's a concept that I read once in Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine, where the grandmother did not want to go into this box and see the world, because if she saw things she wanted but couldn't attain, she'd be unhappier than she currently was. This concept can be explained further with the parable of the fisherman and the businessman. I also think this is one of the ideas behind the movie "Mr. Holland's Opus", which took me years to understand.
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Seek content-ness, not happiness. Happiness comes later.
In my early-twenties, I kept thinking that I always wanted happiness, and if I wasn't then something was wrong. I later realized that it was the pursuit of something that I could never attain that was draining and I realized that was the wrong path. I cannot attain perfection. So I decided to look for a better life-path that I could sustain, feel comfortable, and be content for long periods of time. Happiness comes later, naturally almost. It comes in small packets sometimes. Sometimes I don't even notice.
It's a concept that I read once in Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine, where the grandmother did not want to go into this box and see the world, because if she saw things she wanted but couldn't attain, she'd be unhappier than she currently was. This concept can be explained further with the parable of the fisherman and the businessman. I also think this is one of the ideas behind the movie "Mr. Holland's Opus", which took me years to understand.