Mood: Contemplative
Listening to: The ceiling fan go crazy and not make a big difference
I've been thinking about happiness lately. There's a lot that's been said about happiness and it's importance. There are of course many many Facebook experts that will tell you that you just need to do X or that you just need to adjust your thinking. Many Self Help books. All the narratives that we grow up with thrown in the mix.
I always thought that happiness was tied to security and being content. This can mean many different things to different people. I also believe that people are responsible for their own happiness. If a situation isn't so great, you should change it, if you can. The older I get, the more difficult this becomes to hold on to as a belief.
Life has been rough for me for quite a while, and for the past year and a half, it's been rough for my family too. I feel that even though I go through brief times of happiness, it's more the quiet times that come between stressful times. I spent a long time until very recently dealing with stress and not being happy in very destructive and unproductive ways. As I've moved away from those coping mechanisms, I find it harder to ignore emotional upsets and stressed. As much and I try, I'm not a person who can just remain unaffected when things are difficult - I get stressed quite easily.
I've come to wonder as of late if happiness is one of those narratives that Disney and society have hyped so much that I'm chasing something that doesn't exist. I feel guilty that I'm trying to make myself happy and having a difficult time when so many other people have it very difficult. We're in the middle of a world wide health crisis for fuck's sake and I'm whining about happiness. I guess I should be happy we're all (relatively) healthy and alive.
Listening to: The ceiling fan go crazy and not make a big difference
I've been thinking about happiness lately. There's a lot that's been said about happiness and it's importance. There are of course many many Facebook experts that will tell you that you just need to do X or that you just need to adjust your thinking. Many Self Help books. All the narratives that we grow up with thrown in the mix.
I always thought that happiness was tied to security and being content. This can mean many different things to different people. I also believe that people are responsible for their own happiness. If a situation isn't so great, you should change it, if you can. The older I get, the more difficult this becomes to hold on to as a belief.
Life has been rough for me for quite a while, and for the past year and a half, it's been rough for my family too. I feel that even though I go through brief times of happiness, it's more the quiet times that come between stressful times. I spent a long time until very recently dealing with stress and not being happy in very destructive and unproductive ways. As I've moved away from those coping mechanisms, I find it harder to ignore emotional upsets and stressed. As much and I try, I'm not a person who can just remain unaffected when things are difficult - I get stressed quite easily.
I've come to wonder as of late if happiness is one of those narratives that Disney and society have hyped so much that I'm chasing something that doesn't exist. I feel guilty that I'm trying to make myself happy and having a difficult time when so many other people have it very difficult. We're in the middle of a world wide health crisis for fuck's sake and I'm whining about happiness. I guess I should be happy we're all (relatively) healthy and alive.
1 comment:
Good morning Becky. Ug, happiness. It's a thing that was been missing from my life more often than not lately. I seem to be settling for less unhappy these days. I hope you find something to smile at from time to time.
Post a Comment