Happiness is a choice, you can turn it on or off, I choose to be happy even if dark clouds start looming over my head. Motivation is a temporary thing, it doesn't last. The grind is what kills people and their motivation. I'm not saying motivation is a bad thing, it's more like a spark to get the fire going, in order to keep that fire going you need to keep feeding it. Surround yourself with people, books, pictures, etc that keep you motivated giving you a clear light down your path. Set a goal for yourself so you know where you're headed down that path, set sub goals, focus on those sub goals one at a time, try not to tackle everything at once.
That's some damn good advice.
I'm not sure how old you are, but I'm 31 and have realized over the years that the worst way to obtain happiness, is to chase it, or believe you're entitled to being happy all the time. And I largely blame society for that. Big pharma, psychiatric institutions, the DSM, politics, the media, hollywood, marketers, etc etc. Thats all we're exposed to all day long... "lose 10lbs and be happy", "take this pill and be happy", "elect this politician and be happy", "buy this product and be happy" rah rah. Fuck, at one point I even had a dog (a min pin) named "Happy". I got her when I was 18 and she passed away last Easter. But thats how obsessed I was with happiness. And now everytime I hear the word "happy" I think of my dead dog who I miss so much. Life is weird like that (although I did get a new dog and named her "Sunny" lol). :D
The point is. In my early 20's I thought there was something innately wrong with being unhappy. So I chased girls, I chased the gym, I chased money, I even chased drugs... all in effort to make myself happy. I chased everything. Some people say happiness comes from inside, other people say happiness is a choice, and I say "how stupid are humans to believe we can be happy all the time?" If you really could be happy all the time... then why do anything? Why strive to better yourself? To become... "more happy?" And if you were happy all the time... you'd forget what happiness even means.
I don't know what I'm saying. But I remember talking to an old man years ago and he said one of the most profound things I ever heard in my life. He said, "the less you think about happiness, the less you chase it... the better your chances of actually finding it". And I've found that to be true. Nobody should fear being sad. Nobody should try so hard to avoid it. We're all human. And I believe the more you accept things like sadness, boredom and discontent as a natural part of life... the more you accept happiness as well.
Its the ying and yang of life. One can not exist without the other.
If you say it's an emotion you're right , but if you think it comes from within only, than it's wrong. The way we are created makes it impossible, how can one be happy without everything ?
In ideal world, we would be happy without everything, but this world is far from perfect, so we have to 'chase' that feeling, some say you get it from God, some say from money, etc... Lock yourself in a room and enjoy happiness that comes from within, doesn't sound really good, huh ?
I've been thinking about it for a while and it's true that the things we chase so desperately after DO make us happy.
Money - it's not source of happiness, but you can't be happy if you're homeless and can't feed your family. All it does is to make your life comfortable and less stressful, so it's just a necessity in this world.
Health - we simply cannot be happy without good health, no need to describe it further.
People - lonely person is a poor person, if you have no one, it's helluva boring.
Experiences - this is what makes us happy the most, new car, new clothes, new friends, new places, all those things feel great, because we're experiencing something good that makes us feel better, even it it's a tasty food (pizza in your case lol).
You - yeah, you, if you're not comfortable with yourself, none of the above will matter, learn to love yourself first.
This world isn't a place for happiness, it's for cruelty, but to be happy most of the time, we need to meet our basic needs, which are food, shelter, money, have supportive people around us and a job you love (unless you're a lazy fellow).
Happiness is a condition when you're comfortable (both internal and external), if we break things down, what we need for life we'll get the whole point how to be happy.
Everyone has it's own recipe of happiness, for me, it's an ability to support myself and everyone else around me, work I enjoy doing (coz it's something I'll have to do all my life), and caring people, it's all I need.
I'll tell you, keep working, money can make you very happy, depends on how you spend it. Take a family for a vacation, travel a lot, make those around you happy too and you'll be VERY comfortable.
Cheers.
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