I recently had the pleasure of reading Stephen’s post on acceptance and giving up. If you haven’t read it, go check it out. He discusses how people wrongly think if they accept something, it means they must give up something else.
When I read the post, I somehow thought of Star Trek. To those of you who dislike Star Trek (even though I believe you’ve been seriously misled), I promise I won’t break out into a Federation costume and start speaking Klingon. I won’t make any promises for the future, but you’re safe today.*
No, today I am talking about time. There are many Star Trek episodes where the separation between the past, the present, and the future becomes blurred. In essence, time is no longer linear. This is a very confusing thing to digest, even for me, because we all see time as linear. The past was yesterday, the present is today, the future will be tomorrow. It must happen in that order, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
However linear thinking, while practical, can create some problems if you’re not actively aware of it. Placing the past, the present, and the future into separate boxes can potentially wreck havok in your ability to be happy. Really think about it. Many of us either live in the past or in the future and we see both of them as separate from today. We dream of happiness in the future, we dream of the good old days in the past, but we have difficulty bringing that happiness to the present.
“When I get X, then I will finally be happy.”
Or, “I remember when I had X, I was so happy then. If only I can have that back.”
X could be a job, a spouse, a family, anything. Does any of this sound familiar to you? If you think that way, it’s pretty hard to enjoy the present, accept things as they are today, and truly be happy now.
Think of happiness existing irrespective of time. Happiness doesn’t know boundaries. It doesn’t understand what time is. It’s only limited by your own perceptions.
When you think of a happy memory from the past, suddenly you become happy. You smile, you laugh, you feel warm inside. Even if there is no external stimulus making you feel that way. The boundaries of time has been temporarily broken. Yesterday’s happiness has become the today’s happiness. What if you could capture that feeling at whim? What if you allow your happiness from the past to overflow into the present? You’ve had good memories that helped to bring you where you are today. What’s stopping you from continuing to feel good and happy today? The limitations of your mind.
Think of your dreams, your aspirations. Maybe you dream of having a fulfilling career, a loving spouse, a carefree life. And when you think of them now, you suddenly feel happy and full of hope. But it’s temporary. You’re brought back down to reality. Perhaps you’re at a job you hate. Maybe you’ve just had a nasty argument with your significant other. What if you could also capture that happiness you feel for the future at whim? Tell me, what’s stopping you from feeling happy now? *Drum roll*
What I’m really trying to say is this: Don’t let the past or the future (or your perception of it) control your ability to feel happy today.
You are perfectly free to feel happy today, because like I said, happiness isn’t linear. It doesn’t need a reason. It doesn’t need a cause or an effect. Happiness is all about accepting the past for what it was, the present for what it is, and the future for what it can be.
And it gets better still. If you make the decision to be happy today, you’ll find that today’s happiness will overflow into the past and the future if you let it. Your whole life will seem a lot happier. Your future will seem even brighter because regardless of what happens, you know only you have control over your happiness now. It won’t be dependent on hopes of people you might meet and stuff you might acquire. You’ll simply be at peace with yourself and the world.
Always remember: Live long and prosper. Peace and long life.*
*I lied. Sort of. But only a little bit.
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Related posts:
- Modern-Day Pinocchio: Exploring our own humanity
- The #1 “silver bullet” for achieving happiness in your life
- How to start exercising for wussies (and why you shouldn’t bother setting weight goals)
- Learning patience: Life is not a means to an end.
- Dealing with disenchantment and kicking the wrong illusions to the curb
