In his philosophy, Victor Frankl was consumed with not only defining what happiness is, but also how to keep it. To him, happiness is not some far off goal or future event, it is a state of living: “Dont aim at success. The more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of ones personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of ones surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long-run—in the long-run, I say!—success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think about it” [Victor Frankl] We live in a goal oriented society, besot with maxims we each use to push through our lives. I will find that right person I will get a better opportunity I will be happy once I have X. We have been taught this is what we need to overcome the stress and disappointment we encounter, our lone defense against failure: theres always tomorrow. However one truth that we must accept: there is no tomorrow. There never has been, and there never will be. We only ever have now. This is not a call to abandon our lives and pursue the temporary and pointless satisfaction of hedonistic activities. This is to get you to realize that how you are living is not as important as WHY. These goals? Plan for them, make sure you are pointed in that direction, but live today. Hate your job? Learn to love it, see the stress as a challenge, try approaching it in a fresh way. Feel alone? Just say hi to people, enjoy the occasional small talk, and realize most people feel alone in one way or another. Feel lost? Then honestly ask yourself why you are insisting on defining your happiness on something you do not have. This is not an easy way, and our materialistic, conspicuous culture will resist this. Deep down, what you really want is what you are already working on. If you want an education but never study, you dont really want an education. I had to learn all of this the long way, and I hope you do not. If you disagree, look at the happiest person you know. I will be willing to bet its not the richest or most successful. They are probably not with their ideal mate or their ideal job. They laugh more. They cry less. They shrug their shoulders at failure, and they move on. Because their actions have meaning, because they agree with their conscience and are not slaves to it. Living for today is not being irresponsible, just simply choosing to enjoy each moment. Every meal is a feast if you are hungry. Is today a good day for you? If not, remember that was your opinion, not anyone elses. Take a deep breath, and find pleasure where you are. If all else fails buy something silly and keep at your desk, or just order that damn dessert already.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 14:53:57 +0000
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