How Not to be Happy
- Give up. You are never going to fulfil your potential. Life has dealt you a poor hand. You’ll just have to put up with it, okay?
- Embrace the voids in your life. Perhaps you lack a good family life. Perhaps there is “something missing” from your relationship with your wife and partner. Perhaps you lack a fulfilling career, or you don’t have any money. Stay where you are! Resist the temptation to strengthen your Golden Threads and to take positive action. If you are determined to remain unhappy, it is imperative that you make no effort to fill these voids or to move on with your life. Got it?
- Devote your spare time to wishful thinking. Drift away on your daydreams of fortune and success. Stake your hopes upon a financial windfall, or a personal success, or an exciting new career role. But whatever you do, don’t make plans or begin striving to turn these hopes and dreams into reality. Return to Step 1, rinse and repeat.
These steps are tongue-in-cheek, but it often strikes me that although it is easy to slip into misery or defeat, it can require a good deal of effort to stay there. If somebody channels those same efforts into a more positive direction, how much more could – and would – that person achieve?
