now you might have heard it said that you should enjoy the present that you should live in the present that you should be happy with what you have be happy with Who Your Friends Are that they are the way they are who your colleagues are who you're spouse is and even though you might want material possessions that you don't have that you should be happy with the ones that you do have because others don't have them and others want what you have but you already have it and that there will be always something that you're
going to want but that you can be happy and content with the things that you do have and you might find it difficult to actually do that because while at some point they were new and and shiny and I'm not just talking about material things here in fact I'm at least talking about them but relationships can be shiny and new right and a job might be shiny and new an environment or simply having been sick for a little bit and now feeling better feels great well why can't we feel like that all the time why
is that is there something wrong with us or is it just not possible and of course as everything else in philosophy we deal with only the things that are important and things that are important truly valuable are Timeless they have nothing to do with our so-called Modern Age with our inventions with our devices and have everything to do with Human Nature and human nature does not change I mean not in any perceivable amount of time anyway certainly since the very first intelligible thought has been put to writing Human Nature has not changed not in this
regard and so what did the Ancients think What did philosophers think in in ancient Greece and did they come up with a solution for this well first of all this phenomena of wanting something and then achieving it or getting it being given it but then getting used to it and not being able to find the same joy in it that we did when we first achieved it or received it or even before we achieved and received it when we were wanting it we maybe had more joy in it than we have now after having been
in possession of it for a while and this is what you sometimes might hear refer to as hedonistic adaptation what this means is it's essentially in our evolution it would have been very counterproductive for us to always be excited always be just as excited about this one thing forever just like we are when we first when we first achieve it and it works exactly the same way with things that we don't want happen to us and the sun is coming out really strong I'm just going to lower the exposure a little bit I think and
imagine losing someone or don't even have to go that far let's stay with the small things imagine when you break something an important little object maybe that was left to you from some family member or some friends and you break it and it's Irreplaceable and it's gone well imagine feeling like you do in the very moment that you break it for the rest of your life we would not be able to do anything else we would be done I mean any little thing would stay with us forever and of course it would build up as
more things join so nature gave us a way to deal with that we naturally I mean unless we really work ourselves up and and something we just can't get over but generally we get used to our new conditions our new way of being what has happened the shock goes away and more or less at least in some natural capacity we accept it and we like I said at least partially get over it but again there's a flip side to that everything that we perceive as pleasurable and good and everything that we want more of or
that we want to stay the same we also also that Fades and goes away it works with both we can't have one keep one and get rid of the other it just doesn't work that way but again we're human beings we're beings endowed with the reason with a mind and we can control our mindset one of the few animals on Earth that can at all do that and the only one that can do it to the extent that we can do it foreign what do the Ancients tell us what do the philosophers tell us that
we can do you might have heard the term negative visualization in which you imagine things that are more or less likely to happen to you that you perceive now as Dreadful and as something bad and um something that you never want to happen but by the act of thinking about it you prepare yourself and you go through the steps and you often realize that it wouldn't even be so bad but by the very Act of imagining that Epictetus gives the example of your cup breaks now imagine that and if you truly give some thought to
it it will almost be like it really broke but you look at it and actually it hasn't broken it's in one piece though so now you're happier again you are more appreciative of the cup you can feel some of that Joy again perhaps it was some family members that gave that to you and it's not broken it's intact so on one hand you've prepared yourself for the possibility that it can break and of course nothing lasts forever it will break but at the same time you've regained some of that Joy simply with an exercise within
your mind nothing external and this is exactly the power that our mind has and this is exactly the power that philosophy lets us access so when you Epictetus says when you kiss your child have the thought in mind that you are kissing a mortal someone who whether you think before their time or not they will die it is because we never think about these things that we're not ready for them and it is also because we never think about these things that we don't appreciate them while we have them you know someone who kisses their
child and someone anyone everyone does but no one very few people think about that supposedly negative thought and you can see how amazing it is how how positive an effect and negative thought can have in a controlled manner so when you speak to your wife when you or your husband and when you wake up next to them a few every now and then make yourself think that you're with a mortal that you are Immortal that you might not last for the rest of their life and that your legs that you are walking with right now
might not always be able to provide you with that function that you might not be able to do all these things that you're doing right now if you if you exercise these actions and these relationships in this way you will be much happier and you will feel so much luckier to have these things because they are not granted to you by just having them be immortal or having them lasting forever that's not their nature your nature is not like that so if you first of all realize that and make a personal commitment to think about
these things in this way as you are going through them as you're going through the motions and as you're spending time with all the objects and people that you value that you don't want to miss then you better do this and we talked about it as it has multiple effects not only do you get to enjoy them more not only do Can you capture some of that first excitement again Revitalize that but it will also prepare you for in some cases the inevitable future happening of those things going away and I suppose that is partially
how you can retain or like we said Revitalize the excitement the happiness The Pride the love the enjoyment of the things and the people around you when you pet your dog think how young it used to be and how old it will get how would well one day have to leave you and also don't forget no matter how much shorter on animals lifespan might be on average then none of your years are guaranteed either because a human can get up to 100 years whatever does not mean that they will does not mean that you will
and once you think about yourself that way once you realize that anything you do becomes more enjoyable more special well it doesn't become more special but you realize you much more realize how special it is and that's one of the keys to mindful living to examine living to thoughtful living and to a fuller life and again philosophy provides us with that and it calls to you to realize what things are and through the realization of that already you will gain a lot and if you further exercise you will become stronger and you will become happier
in every way imaginable and you will have this effect on the very people that you think about in this way and again you will also be prepared for every eventuality every eventuality that you think of anyway that you prepare yourself of and that's again all in your hands it's all within your reach it's all within you it's internal it's not external and this is what we say when we mean everything good or bad is within you nothing that you need nothing that is of the highest order of good and benefit and Truth can possibly be
outside of you and it can possibly not be something that someone else needs to Grant you it's there within you at any point this reason this mind that you have this capacity that it has to do this is already within you how you access it is the work that you need to do and it's very achievable because again it's already within you so I would encourage you to right now look around you and apply this apply this technique apply this um exercise whatever you want to call it and you will feel the effect immediately there
was a time where you did not have this where you were not with this person and there will be a time where you will not have this anywhere you will not be with this person that's a fact the more you think about this supposedly negative fact the more you will gain actual benefit
