I found a definition of happiness that makes sense.
It goes like this: the less distance there is between what we have - and what we want - the happier we are.
I interpret this to mean that if I'm okay with what I have now then I'm happy.
But, if we have the perspective that when we get to the next great thing we'll be happy, that's a problem.
How do we get into this trap? Well, I think part of it is that our human nature is to move from pain to pleasure. After all, that's how we survived and evolved as a species.
The pain of hunger led us to find the food we needed to survive. Cold led us to find the warmth of shelter. The pleasure of sex led us to procreate. But then things got skewed.
Because our modern marketing machine has drilled into our subconscious that we'll be okay if we just have more of the right stuff. The better car. The bigger house. Certain clothes. The right woman or man. The right look.
The media overwhelm us with a constant stream of images of things that'll make us happy once we get them.
But it it's a myth. If we think pleasure and material things will make us happy then we're fooling ourselves.
Because once we get what we thought would make us happy we find it's the new normal. Then we need a bigger hit. Then a bigger one after that. It's never enough.
In my case, there's no distance between what I have and what I want. I have a loving wife. My children are doing okay. There's a circle of friends. We have a decent home. We are in a business that allows us to help others get their lives back.
I'm okay with what I have.
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