How much happiness do you want?
by Aileen Journey
I feel like my life is pretty good despite the fact that I still struggle with some physical symptoms that haven’t gone away. I earn enough money to live and save for the future. I do what I want most days. I have a family and a home and a community and friends. Generally, life is good. Sometimes, though, I feel the pressure from society or other people telling me that I should have more. Then I stop and wonder is there more that I want or should want or could get? I don’t have lots and lots of money. I have the capacity to earn more, but I choose not to. I try to think about whether my life would be even better if I did.
I somehow want to make sure that I’m setting my goals at a good level since I understand better how to achieve goals. I want to make sure I’m not giving up on something that might make me very happy just because I didn’t think of it. In some ways it’s a silly way to think. If I haven’t considered something that could make me happy then it can’t be all that important to me. I would like a bigger house, but at this point my entire priority is my daily experience. I want my physical symptoms to be completely under control so that I feel good and have a normal amount of energy every day.
Not everyone is me, though. Some people may not spend the time thinking of what they want. What will actually make them happy. I hear people tell me that they are working at a job they’re not crazy about or they don’t have the life that hey want and they just complain. What would happen if they imagined the life they wanted and then set that as the goal and started working towards it?
Some people don’t want to do that because they’re afraid of getting their hopes up and then not getting what they want. They also may be afraid that if they set these goals they may have to work doing things they don’t so much want to do in order to get these goals. If they don’t really believe that they’ll get there then all the hard work just seems for naught.
I think about all those people during the recent financial boom who were working hard trying to earn more and more and more money. These people selling mortgages to people who couldn’t afford them weren’t starving, they weren’t just trying to survive, they just wanted more. They had a lot, but kept feeling that maybe there was more out there for them if they just had more resources.
I wonder if I’m like them in some way. I can see that I’m OK and am saving for the future, but I wonder if there’s more out there that I should be going after. Will I be happier with a bigger house or a fancier car or more gadgets (I do love gadgets)? I bet I won’t be much happier. I bet life wouldn’t change much at all.
So the question comes down to, what are our dreams? Should we always have dreams that we’re striving for or is there a time that we’re just happy to enjoy life? I still have dreams. I still want some things career-wise, but my list has narrowed significantly. I feel a little guilty being happy with what I have and wonder if that satisfied feeling will harm me in the long-run.
Is having dreams the opposite of being happy with what we have or is it the energy that motivates us to bigger and better things in life? Is there a balance? Can we be happy with what we have and also work towards other things that we may want?
I choose to be happy with my life as it is right now and continue to work on the other things I want. I’m sure I won’t be able to completely eliminate my wonder about whether I should be working towards loftier goals or not.
Happiness is not always elusive. It doesn’t require a specific amoutn of money or stuff or achievement. It does require some base. In other words, everyone has the basics of what he or she wants and those do need to be met before a person can feel fulfilled. Those things may be a family, a career, a home or other things. Once some people have these, though, they feel the need to continue striving for things to make them more happy. Their entire life becomes the striving instead of the acheivement. Try not to let your whole life be about getting somewhere. Allow yourself to get somewhere and just be there and enjoy what you’ve achieved.
