The Possibility

Possibility can be what drives you. You might not be so happy in your job right now, but when you dwell on the fact that you have to be there for the next year, it becomes almost unbearable. When there is no possibility of anything else, you feel trapped.

Remind yourself that you have choices, even when you think you don't. It's worth repeating. YOU ALWAYS HAVE A CHOICE. Most people believe they don't. Or rather, they convince themselves they don't.

Do you know why? It's easier to assign responsibility to the universe.

Plus, it's easy to explain things that way to other people. They use the same trick.

Losing momentum

Often, this is a sign of something not being right for you anymore. Or it's just evidence that you tend to be a starter, and not a finisher.

I'm not sure which one of those categories this blog falls into, but I intend to find out.

On Rules

Why do some people get so upset when other people "break" the rules, even when it doesn't affect them?

Like let's just say that you're riding your bike home, and instead of following the maze of one way streets through a busy commercial district, you take a 50 foot shortcut the wrong way down a one way street. You ride past a line of cars waiting at a stoplight, the light turns green and one car stops, rolls down their window, and the woman yells out "HEY BIKER, this is a ONE WAY STREET!".

Then let's say, that she theoretically sits there, stopped in the middle of the street, glaring out her window at you as you ride past.

What do you do?

My vote: you flip her the bird. Theoretically. Then nearby witnesses to the incident applaud you. Theoretically.

Not sure where I'm going with this one, but don't you just sometimes want to scream: "Why the $#&@ do you care?"

Trust me, you'll be so much happier when you don't care about stuff like that...

Lobotomy Time!

I'm only 40 or so pages into "Stumbling on Happiness" by Daniel Gilbert, but so far the message is clear. Destroy your frontal lobe. It's the part of your brain responsible for planning and imagining the future. They used to prescribe this (with great success) for people with anxiety and unhappiness. Of course objectively, it sounds pretty barbaric doesn't it?

Apparently this is the newest part of our brains, evolving, so it would seem, so that we can revel in unhappiness. It's what separates us from the animals. Well, except monkeys.

I've talked about this "living in the present" before (minus the frontal lobe and the monkeys part). And clearly, I'm no expert. But that doesn't mean I can't still tell everyone else what to do! :-) Actually, in truth I'm doing pretty well with this at the moment, even though I'm not trying to do it. Perhaps it's just a defense mechanism that kicks in when you're getting paid based on commission?!?

Want to see what other people have to say about living in the present?

Happines is...

"Happiness, at best, is an illusory goal. It is not a destination; it is a manner of travelling. Happiness is not an end in itself. It is a by-product of working, playing, loving, living." - Haim Ginott