The Joyless Treadmill
Daily Meditation #367–2/26/2023
Many of us seem to be in an endless marathon, chasing a sunset, sprinting at the horizon.
“When I see the perfect sunset, I’ll be happy.”
However, for that “many of us,” it’s:
“When I get back to my high school weight, I’ll be happy.”
“When I get that promotion, I’ll be happy.”
“When I get a girlfriend, I’ll be happy.”
“When I XYZ, then I will be happy.”
What a sad treadmill we invite ourselves to live upon with this mindset. The sprinting, chasing of a sunset which we will never experience.
Happiness isn’t for us to “achieve” in the sense of a goal like losing weight or getting a fat performance bonus — in fact, when we zip-tie happiness onto goals like this, it makes us miserable.
No, happiness is a byproduct of living a life of meaning. It is a byproduct of living in a manner consistent with the person you aspire to be.
You will not find happiness with the “If/then” model.
Seek meaning.
Live consistent with the future self.
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These are distillations from my coming book “YouDaimonia: the Ancient Philosophy of Human Flourishing.”
