Obsession
>> Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Are you happy?
‘I don’t know’.
I don’t know if every one is unhappy. I know they are all busy: working overtime, worrying about their children, their husband, their wife, their degree, what they are going to do tomorrow, what they need to buy, what they need to have in order not to feel inferior, etc. Very few people actually say to me: “I’m unhappy.” Most say: “I’m fine, I’ve got everything I ever wanted.”
“What makes you happy?”…Then I ask.
“I’ve got everything a person could possibly want – a family, a home, work, good health. etc.”
I ask again: “ Have you ever stopped to wonder if that’s all there is to life?”
“Yes, that’s all there is.”
“So the meaning of life is work, family, children who will grow up and leave you, a wife or husband who will become more like a friend than a real lover. And, of course, one day your work will end too. What will you do when that happened?”
“When the children have grown up, when my husband – or my wife – has become more my friend than my passionate lover, when I retire, then I’ll have time to do what I always wanted to do: travel.”
But didn’t you say you were happy now? Aren’t you already doing what you always wanted to do?”
They always do come up with something they’re lacking. The businessman hasn’t yet closed the deal he wanted, the housewife would like to have more independence and more money, the boy who’s in love is afraid of losing his girlfriend, the new graduate wonders if he chose his career or if it was chosen for him, the dentist wanted to be a singer, the singer wanted to be a politician, the politician wanted to be a writer, a writer wanted to be a farmer. And even when I did meet someone who was doing what he had chosen to do, the person’s soul was still in torment. He hadn’t found peace yet either.
So I’ll ask you again: “Are you happy?”
‘But there is something…’
‘What?’
I have the idea that, if I stopped, life would become meaningless’
‘Are not we the slaves of fame?’
Knowing that doesn’t make any difference. People do their best not to remember and not to accept the immense magical potential they possess, because that would upset their neat little universes.’
But we have all the ability, don’t we?’
‘Absolutely, we just don’t all have the courage to follow our dreams and to follow the signs. Perhaps that’s where the sadness comes from.’
‘I don’t know’.
I don’t know if every one is unhappy. I know they are all busy: working overtime, worrying about their children, their husband, their wife, their degree, what they are going to do tomorrow, what they need to buy, what they need to have in order not to feel inferior, etc. Very few people actually say to me: “I’m unhappy.” Most say: “I’m fine, I’ve got everything I ever wanted.”
“What makes you happy?”…Then I ask.
“I’ve got everything a person could possibly want – a family, a home, work, good health. etc.”
I ask again: “ Have you ever stopped to wonder if that’s all there is to life?”
“Yes, that’s all there is.”
“So the meaning of life is work, family, children who will grow up and leave you, a wife or husband who will become more like a friend than a real lover. And, of course, one day your work will end too. What will you do when that happened?”
“When the children have grown up, when my husband – or my wife – has become more my friend than my passionate lover, when I retire, then I’ll have time to do what I always wanted to do: travel.”
But didn’t you say you were happy now? Aren’t you already doing what you always wanted to do?”
They always do come up with something they’re lacking. The businessman hasn’t yet closed the deal he wanted, the housewife would like to have more independence and more money, the boy who’s in love is afraid of losing his girlfriend, the new graduate wonders if he chose his career or if it was chosen for him, the dentist wanted to be a singer, the singer wanted to be a politician, the politician wanted to be a writer, a writer wanted to be a farmer. And even when I did meet someone who was doing what he had chosen to do, the person’s soul was still in torment. He hadn’t found peace yet either.
So I’ll ask you again: “Are you happy?”
‘But there is something…’
‘What?’
I have the idea that, if I stopped, life would become meaningless’
‘Are not we the slaves of fame?’
Knowing that doesn’t make any difference. People do their best not to remember and not to accept the immense magical potential they possess, because that would upset their neat little universes.’
But we have all the ability, don’t we?’
‘Absolutely, we just don’t all have the courage to follow our dreams and to follow the signs. Perhaps that’s where the sadness comes from.’
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