Studies have shown that personal spending and income are generally in direct relationship to our attitude towards the economy and how we feel about ourselves. This means that the better we feel about ourselves, the more we spend. And since there is a general increase in personal income and spending adjusted to inflation, now what?
Believe you me, I find this all too confusing. So what to make of happiness in relation to satisfaction? Now, I not sure if I’m happy, content or just well fed and fat!
We’ve always been told that we should be content with what we have. To a certain degree I agree. But what we have should not be the limit of what we can desire. With new understanding of human behavior we now know that the more you suppress what you desire, the more the tendency for us to go into extreme. Think of a metal spring – the more you compress it the more it stores that energy that will eventually need to be un-sprung. And then, watch out!
If satisfaction indeed is an ingredient to happiness, why do we hear and read stories after stories of people who have attained what seem to us lofty goals who are just miserable? Indeed, some of these giants in human achievements appear to be misanthropes. And granted there is a segment of the population who are mentally ill, how would you explain the destructiveness and self-destruction of those we see as successful normal people?
Now we know that it is not enough to demand of anyone to be satisfied with what we have. It is human nature to be dissatisfied. In fact that is what drives one’s effort towards something better. If we are satisfied with everything we have and do, what would motivate us to create better medicines or even a better mousetrap?
To be happy is then not to focus on having the ultimate goal but on being able to take those little steps towards that goal. "Keeping your eyes on the prize," will make us lose contact with what IS now – what’s around us. The journey. On the other hand watching our every step will make us tentative and unsure of what to do next for fear of falling.
What drives us to focusing on the journey or if you really have to, the goal? What drives us to want what we have and yet be dissatisfied enough to investigate and initiate action? What makes us happy?
In the last issue I sent out a challenge to write back a list of three that makes you happy. I thank all for that great response! They were very personal and honest.
The more I look into the responses the more they confirm what Abraham Lincoln once said, "Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." Simply said, happiness is
just as much our choice as it is our choice what to wear to work.
Have you ever heard of a power tie? Or that red exudes power and confidence? Guess what, a tie is no more powerful than a pair of sock. That is why our power tie yesterday looks absolutely wimpy today! And
here's a surprise - Red is just another color. How we decide to feel tomorrow morning will be exactly how
we will feel and affect others. Just ask your kids, your spouse, your friends. If you haven’t yet,
now would be the right time to ask.
"What makes you happy?" A great question to start us thinking of what really makes us happy. Now, what are you willing to give up for these? Narrows down the list, doesn’t it?
A choice, a decision. And yet, this, too, could possibly be for naught without the main characteristic of anyone with a happy disposition.
A test: What one word describes those who are generally considered happy?
Give up?
Grateful.