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- Happiness is a CHOICE
7 min read
We live in a world that we want to make progress without it being hard.
We become slaves to what “should be,” and our should be is “easy.”
People will go insane over the thought of walking in hot weather but can go into a sauna without complaint.
The difference is expectation and intention.
When you’re out in the cold, your automatic reaction is to shiver.
The cold is uncomfortable.
So in these times, we tend to focus on the compulsive, negative thoughts that stem from expectation…
Instead of reality.
But if you were to be with it, flow with it, and realize that discomfort is a part of the human experience…
You would find that your interpretation of thoughts is the culprit of your suffering.
But these phases of life aren’t fun, clearly.
But, these moments are when life offers a lesson that can only be found through a shift in direction.
This is what we are here to unpack.
STILLNESS AND MOVEMENT
There are 2 types of happiness. One is from achieving goals. The other is from achieving nothing.
Happiness is a skill.
It is not given but created.
Not deserved but earned.
As with all skills, it must be practiced, refined, and adopted as a part of your life.
If it doesn’t belong in every day, week, or month of your present and future, why are you doing it?
If you want to become a writer, creator, or marketer – why are you not writing everyday?
Even if you don’t get paid at the start, you still have to build leverage, reputation, and authority to the point of getting paid.
Happiness loses its meaning as it cannot exist without an unhappy reference point of prior experience.
You can think positive thoughts all day long. But what people fail to realize is that every positive thought holds a negative seed. This is why almost every great success comes after great failure.
Without a negative experience as an anchor, you have nothing meaningful to move toward.
There are two states of mind to become aware of:
Being and doing.
Peace and progress.
Stillness and movement.
When your attention is focused into these 2 states, you tap into the power of the present moment.
But there’s an issue.
When you feel still, you want movement.
But when you’re moving, you want to be still.
So it’s this never ending cycle of chasing, and chasing, without reverting to the main purpose.
But even with the purpose, we will continue to cycle. We will continue to feel unhappy or unsatisfied.
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So it is necessary to understand this concept, and to stay resilient nonetheless.
When you feel unhappy, observe that feeling. Lean into it.
Let it present the lesson that life is trying to teach you. From that low, lean into the coming high.
The activities that create this blissful state of mind are personal.
You must observe, hypothesize, experiment, fail, learn, and repeat this never-ending process even once you have reached objective success.
Because even that isn’t permanent.