The other way might be to simply give up on everything I thought I wanted and stop letting my idea of happiness be influenced by our culture of materialism.
That is a decent approach. Stop trying to live by others' standards. Tune out the ads. What we all want is life and comfort for ourselves and those we care about and the media generally offer bad advice on how to get it.
It's not to give up on what you wanted but to look into yourself to find what you want, not to let others, who happen to be going after what they want and don't have any concern about your interests, tell you what to want.
It doesn't mean abandoning everything. It may just mean taking a job that you can tolerate, renting instead of owing--at least for now--and looking for some sort of satisfaction in trying to live simply in accordance with your principles--what ever they may be. It's not exciting or glamorous, but it what a lot of people have had to "settle" for and sometimes it pays off in the long run--in peace of mind if not a lot of shiny toys.
Good advice. Probably nothing has enough glamor to justify the effort, which leads to a lot of unhappy celebrities. I'm taking glamor to be that which impresses people. Sometimes, the greatest impression is not what has the greatest impact.
Peace of mind is important and often ends up with more interesting, if fewer, toys.
Maybe it's just because I'm getting old and coming to the realization that most of my youthful dreams are not going to come to pass, but if my coworkers, if not my boss, are people I don't mind spending a great deal of time with and I don't go to bed hungry or cold I think I'm doing alright for myself. What's going to happen when I'm no longer able to work is a different matter. I'm just going to have to hold the universe to what all the sages have said on its behalf and keep on giving while I can.
All of what's been said. It can feel like maturing, or giving up on Main Dream to follow Next Best instead, or a few other things.
Most of my goals were never achievable, in a literal sense. Even my secondary ones would've required me to be a full-out child prodigy, starting my efforts at the age of 5 and still working towards them now...28 years later? Erg.
Just passing time by surviving and making efforts for now, until I can find something that does make me actually happy - and hopefully, I'll recognize it when it happens. Until then, "well enough" will do.
That is a decent approach. Stop trying to live by others' standards. Tune out the ads. What we all want is life and comfort for ourselves and those we care about and the media generally offer bad advice on how to get it.
It's not to give up on what you wanted but to look into yourself to find what you want, not to let others, who happen to be going after what they want and don't have any concern about your interests, tell you what to want.
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It doesn't mean abandoning everything. It may just mean taking a job that you can tolerate, renting instead of owing--at least for now--and looking for some sort of satisfaction in trying to live simply in accordance with your principles--what ever they may be. It's not exciting or glamorous, but it what a lot of people have had to "settle" for and sometimes it pays off in the long run--in peace of mind if not a lot of shiny toys.
Reply
Peace of mind is important and often ends up with more interesting, if fewer, toys.
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Most of my goals were never achievable, in a literal sense. Even my secondary ones would've required me to be a full-out child prodigy, starting my efforts at the age of 5 and still working towards them now...28 years later? Erg.
Just passing time by surviving and making efforts for now, until I can find something that does make me actually happy - and hopefully, I'll recognize it when it happens. Until then, "well enough" will do.
Reply
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