I will only be happy when… It’s a lie. The “Y”

#ELD 42

I’ve recently been listening to the audio book ‘The Almanack Of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness’ and it’s really highlighted the main cause of suffering I seem to face.

Before we dive into that here’s a summary of the books content: “Getting rich is not just about luck; happiness is not just a trait we are born with.” Highly recommend given that you are reading / listening to my content. Anyway I’ve given that insight into the book because it’s contextual to the following.

“I just want to have freedom…” “I’ll be happy once I…” “When I’m…” Bullshit. These are bullshit stories I tell myself almost daily. While I believe freedom to do what I want, when I want is a worthy goal, It shouldn’t determine my ability to be happy in the present moment.

Often it does. Often finding myself wanting to be “free” pulling myself out of the present. I’m going to be doing what I’m doing anyway… why make it unnecessarily frustrating.

So whats the point?

I’m enjoying characterising or segmenting my life into what Naval would call “games.”

First understanding what I would call the baseline of our existence, that we are fundamentally the undercurrent of awareness that isn’t sad, happy, anxious or any other human emotion.

Once we step into the human “game” then emotions run the show. We’re taken from one to the other trying to find our feet. When the identification with this is recognised we can ease back into our baseline awareness and detach from the human game.

The human game often comes with other games such as success, responsibilities and chasing the dream which can easily drive us into overwhelm, or “I’m not doing enough” syndrome.

But suddenly when these are viewed as games we get to place during our time here, the anxt, stress and pressure to succeed is lifted. It’s all play… And via this play, is how we actually achieve success. Something we enjoy will be done far more and to a higher quality than something we “should” do.

Every waking moment, through the practice of awareness training we are faced with two decisions: to choose to play the game, or forgetting to play. Dad‘s always talked about this “Y“ concept... Maybe I‘m beginning to understand.

So…

Let’s play!