what if I tell you that chasing happiness is actually taking you further away from it that the more you care about it the harder it is to reach trust me I know this because I've been struggling with it for years I think of all the times I've told myself that I'll be happy when a certain time comes or I reach one of my big goals but when it actually happens the feel quickly goes away no matter how much I try to hold on to it yet I still continue to make the same mistake chasing a
happy Problem free life when in reality I should just be trying less I recently found out about the backwards law which states that the more you pursue feeling better all the time the less satisfied you'll become as pursuing something only reinforces the fact that you lack it in the first place desire is a driving force that pushes us to seek better circumstances while it can be a powerful motivator it often carries with it negative emotions such as frustration impatience and dissatisfaction the more we desire something the more likely we are to perceive our current situation
as lacking Naval ravikant an entrepreneur and modern a philosopher put it well desire is a contract you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want now you can understand why chasing happiness could actually be problematic it creates a sort of paradx but how do we achieve happiness then what does it take to live a more positive life well I think getting rid of the idea of a happy Problem free life alt together is a great start unfortunately that only happens in movies I know it sucks but there is a good explanation
for this happiness is an emotion and just like any other emotion it comes and goes it can and won't always stay with you as your feelings are constantly changing throughout the day each emotion serves a purpose even negative ones the suffering usually shows that something is not right in our lives it pushes us to make changes and grow if we actually were happy all the time we would do nothing and live in delusion because there would be no incentive to change we wouldn't progress and everything would seem fine as it is even if it actually
wasn't so whenever you feel down try to understand why and see if there's something that you can learn from it it's also important to remember that two people while in the exact same situation could feel completely opposite one could be happy and grateful while the other could be miserable thinking he deserves a lot more that shows that the most important piece of the puzzle is within us it's the way we look at the world instead instead of relying on external factors for our happiness we should be looking for internal peace at the end of the
day it's not about doing and achieving more it's about wanting less and appreciating everything around you too often we make the mistake of acknowledging what we really had only when it's gone because no matter where you are in life there will always seem to be at least one more thing you need to be completely happy but it's always an illusion Les desires will lead to less complications and dissatisfaction which will in turn bring more moments of enjoyment these are the moments during which you forget about the past and stop worrying about the future when you
accept reality for what it is instead of constantly thinking about how you would want it to be any moment like that will be a happy moment the less expectations we have and the smaller our ego is the better off will be of course it's much easier said than done and it will be a lifelong journey but at least you'll know you're going in the right direction
