The root of my unhappiness seems to be unfulfillment of my wants.
The unfulfillment is sometimes something that I can’t control. There are external factors that can cause it.
The wants, however, definitely come from within me. They are something I can control. The less I want things, the less I face unhappiness.
This gets confusing because it feels to me that what brings happiness is fulfillment of my wants. So if I reduce my wants to avoid unhappiness, I have fewer source of happiness as well.
So perhaps the clue is to decouple wants and happiness. I read in a book once that it is efforts toward mastery that brings true happiness. Maybe that is the key. Maybe I should spend more time there, instead of giving too much time to wants.
Lastly, perhaps another true source of happiness is being grateful for what I already have. If I can do this, I feel it can naturally reduce wants as well.
So, going forward, this is what I want to focus on:
– Reducing my wants, by
– Getting happiness from mastering things, and
– Getting happiness from being grateful.
Hafiz Rahman 