Happiness Schmapiness

A couple days ago, I was looking around my sparsely furnished apartment, looking in wonder at the few things that I have here in Houston. I am tired of sitting on the floor, I am tired of not having the comforts I am used to. I started thinking of how cheap I am. How I rarely will splurge on anything pricey. How I can afford more, yet I don’t allow myself these items.

I was actually down on myself for this. I buy cheap. I buy secondhand. I comparison shop. And perhaps, most notably right now, I do without. And I was feeling bad about this. Felt that I should do more. I should go buy myself a couch. I should buy myself that chair I want for my foyer, where I can chat with that secretary I need to hire. I should get some better, higher thread count sheets. I need, I need, I need.

However, I have been holding back. Not wanting to spend much money. Knowing that this situation is temporary. I will have my old comfy sheets sometime in the future, I will have a couch, I will move my camping chairs from my living room to my foyer, where my secretary and I will chat about what that crazy bitch Britney did this week.

I am not in debt, I don’t want to get back into debt. And the Good Lord knows, my rent doesn’t justify any extra expenditures. But dammit, I work my ass off. I deserve more. It will make me more comfortable. It will make me happy. I am just going to buy myself those things I deserve.

W. T. F. !

Hold Up. Wait A Minute.

Screw that, I told myself. My belongings don’t make me happy. Hell, over the past 10 years, I have given away so much of the crap I have bought anyway. Why would I need to buy more crap?

Crap isn’t what makes me happy.

And hell, who cares if I am happy or not.

I was never promised Happy.

This culture drives me fucking crazy.

Entitlement makes me livid. You don’t deserve a thing. What you get, be thankful for. Work hard to get more. Put out good things, hopefully you get good things back, and if you don’t, oh well, at least you made other lives better.

As for your job, screw job satisfaction, you should be happy you have a job. Who cares if you have a comfy couch. Be happy, you have a roof. Your family, your loved ones driving you crazy? Be happy you have them to drive you crazy.

This post made me start thinking about these things.

To me, the most important point of the link is this quote: When money or health is a problem, you think about it all the time; when it’s not a problem, you don’t think much about it. Both money and health contribute to happiness mostly in the negative; the lack of them brings much more unhappiness than possessing them brings happiness. One of the greatest luxuries that money and health provide is the freedom from having to think about them.

So, if you have a bit of money, you have a bit of health…get busy. Stop thinking about not having enough of either just by staying busy. If you are busy, you are working, you are active, you don’t have time to consider how little you have. How little happiness, how little money. In the end, what do you really want, anyway?

I think I can do without that couch, those sheets, or that secretary for now.

That Roomba?

Hmm….damn, I take this back. All of it.