Happiness
Only the unhistorical person can be truly happy, a wise man once wrote.[1] Being unhistorical means to be able to let go the past and the future completely, to live in and think about the present only.
The more I think about it, the more it seems to be true. Thinking of the happiest moments of my life, I did not realise my happiness until those moments were over. Such a shame. When I think about those moments, I know they are over and I can never relive them.
Thinking about the past has never made me happy, even if it was a happy past.
If I had been conscious of my happiness in the moment of happiness, I probably would have been less happy. Thinking about the moment you’re in instead of living it is never good. Also, knowing that you are happy now makes you realise this cannot last forever. So, also thinking about the future does not make me happy. Even if it’s a happy future –looking forward to something too much usually results in disappointment.
Which makes me wonder if I am happy. I believe I am. That is, in general. I can honestly say that I am generally happy. I am generally happy with my life, my environment, my friends, my family, my past, and I am generally optimistic about my future. Still, moments of true happiness are rare. In the contrary, often I just feel sad. Even though I am generally happy. And when I think of it, I am constantly rethinking past events, thinking about should haves, thinking about future events and conversations in the greatest details. This occupation makes me confused rather than happy, and I know it.
In theory happiness is easy to achieve. All you have to do is let go of the past, don’t expect too much of the future, and enjoy the moment of now as much as you can. So if it is so easy in theory, why is it so incredibly hard? Maybe it is possible to be happy with being sad. Maybe being happy constantly is so unsatisfying that it does not make happy in general.
I just need to find the right balance.
[1] Nietzsche, Friedrich. 1874. Vom Nutzen und Nachteil der Historie für das Leben : zweite unzeitgemässe Betrachtung.
The more I think about it, the more it seems to be true. Thinking of the happiest moments of my life, I did not realise my happiness until those moments were over. Such a shame. When I think about those moments, I know they are over and I can never relive them.
Thinking about the past has never made me happy, even if it was a happy past.
If I had been conscious of my happiness in the moment of happiness, I probably would have been less happy. Thinking about the moment you’re in instead of living it is never good. Also, knowing that you are happy now makes you realise this cannot last forever. So, also thinking about the future does not make me happy. Even if it’s a happy future –looking forward to something too much usually results in disappointment.
Which makes me wonder if I am happy. I believe I am. That is, in general. I can honestly say that I am generally happy. I am generally happy with my life, my environment, my friends, my family, my past, and I am generally optimistic about my future. Still, moments of true happiness are rare. In the contrary, often I just feel sad. Even though I am generally happy. And when I think of it, I am constantly rethinking past events, thinking about should haves, thinking about future events and conversations in the greatest details. This occupation makes me confused rather than happy, and I know it.
In theory happiness is easy to achieve. All you have to do is let go of the past, don’t expect too much of the future, and enjoy the moment of now as much as you can. So if it is so easy in theory, why is it so incredibly hard? Maybe it is possible to be happy with being sad. Maybe being happy constantly is so unsatisfying that it does not make happy in general.
I just need to find the right balance.
[1] Nietzsche, Friedrich. 1874. Vom Nutzen und Nachteil der Historie für das Leben : zweite unzeitgemässe Betrachtung.
posted by Let @ 12:05 am
1 Comments:
At 2/12/2007 8:30 am,
Anonymous said…
Perhaps happiness follow the relativity theory...it depends on the reference.
And I think it's perfectly possible to feel happy when feeling sad. In fact, often I truly felt happy after I overcame major setbacks and realised how meaningful the sadness was.
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