Thursday 11 December 2008

How to be unhappy

Posted by speedygeoff on Thursday, December 11, 2008 with
What I am reading: actually I am still reading the books I have mentioned before. So much for getting through a-book-a-week. So instead, I will write something:


How to be unhappy #1. Live in the Past.
The unhappiest people are always talking about the past; “those were the days”; “things were always much better back then”; “we will never have days like that again”; “all the best runners lived long ago”; “if only we could turn back the clock” and so on. The reality is, things are much better today, and the past is over-rated.

There is nothing wrong with valuing the past, as long as it doesn’t diminish what is happening right now. If you don’t realise that your life is getting better, you will only be miserable wishing and hoping that things would be like they were.

People are often trying to relive some past experience, some feeling they had years ago but which they can never experience again, and will go to great lengths to try and recreate that experience. They may resort to repeating the past, building monuments, ritualising or institutionalising activities which are aimed at recreating the past. But it’s all in vain, you cannot revisit the past now, no matter how hard you try.

And the present holds the promise of newer and better experiences!

But if you really prefer being unhappy, look backwards not forwards.

Runners at Innabaanya (continued)












1. Here comes Alan...
2. Peter's in front
3. Outa my way!
4. Miranda, Rod
5. Rod's catching up
6. Amanda, Ken, Katie all cooling down, and Maria, Roger, CJ all racing.
click to enlarge

And, your last chance to book in for the speedygeese dinner is today.