The Choice to Have a Good Day
I am a strong believer in mind over matter. Specifically, I believe that our attitude towards events and life in general is far more important than the objective measure of comfort, pleasure, or hardship.
I’ve been perfectly happy in a UN Camp in Afghanistan, recovering from COVID, eating shitty food and being surrounded by armed guards for protection.
I’ve also been perfectly miserable sitting on a beautiful beach in the Dominican Republic that would belong on the back of a postcard.
It doesn’t matter where we go; we must take ourselves. Socrates worked this out more than two thousand years ago:
Why do you wonder that globe-trotting does not help you, seeing that you always take yourself with you? The reason which set you wandering is ever at your heels.” What pleasure is there in seeing new lands? Or in surveying cities and spots of interest? All your bustle is useless. Do you ask why such flight does not help you? It is because you flee along with yourself. You must lay aside the burdens of the mind; until you do this, no place will satisfy you.
You will not “arrive” at a place where you can finally enjoy life, where things will all align, and you can let yourself be happy and have a positive attitude, finally becoming the person you think you can become.
No, that process takes effort and is ongoing. You have to choose to become that person and live up to that choice every day.
The key thing is being grounded in the present. That is perhaps the most important part of life. After all, you can only live right now!
So do you stop to smell the flowers and pet the lazy cat you encounter, or do you walk busily past, thinking about the unchangeable past or the unknowable future?
