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I was trying to come at this problem backwards. I am the happiest person I know. Seriously. Not cheerful, but bone-deep happy. I have always attributed this to my innate stoicism. I never stress about a problem until that problem actually materializes.
For example, I didn't vote for Donald Trump, but I'm adopting a "wait-and-see" attitude. I know so many people who are actually depressed and anxious over something that hasn't even occurred yet and frankly won't even affect them in a material way.
Another example: I have two female friends who are unhappy day after day because they haven't found their soulmate. If they would just focus on enjoying the single life, they wouldn't be wasting the best years of their lives wallowing in misery. These are perceived problems, not actual problems.
Again a lot of it is choices. I have a good life and I know and appreciate it. I'd be an idiot to complain about it. That doesn't mean it is all good all the time but I am also a fixer. I don't complain and when problems arise I deal with them head on.
Yeah I am wait and see also. It's not like the country has been in good shape for a lot of years anyway
That's sad that your friends cannot enjoy the "today". We all need to appreciate even the small things in everyday life.
BTW the best advice I could ever give is to live in the present. Don't spend your mental time in your past and in your future. Plan for your future, but live in the present.
BTW the best advice I could ever give is to live in the present. Don't spend your mental time in your past and in your future. Plan for your future, but live in the present.
Good advice. The past is done. Move on. and change our futures
i wonder if homeless people or people struggling to get food and water complain about anxiety and depression.
Many homeless people are homeless because they are mentally ill. And then pretty often they become addicts to escape from their depression and anxiety.
What I mean to say is that many of us spend too much mental energy and focus on the past and on the future (what happened before, what you want to happen, what you're afraid will or won't happen).
There's the difference between modern high-tech lifestyle vs. third world or olden times. People lived for the moment, lived in real time. Didn't have energy to waste about thinking about "too late to change" or "what will I do if .....?"
When you are in the zone you are in the present moment. You are enjoying what is happening right now. You are living a real life.
That is what I think is wrong with the West and that way of thinking. Not that I have been able to escape it. Well I try to escape it when I can, for as long as I can, which usually not very long. I'd like to find mental exercises to help me live more for the present moment. Maybe meditation. Maybe yoga.
But after reading this whole topic, that is what I put my finger on. Live in the present!
What I mean to say is that many of us spend too much mental energy and focus on the past and on the future (what happened before, what you want to happen, what you're afraid will or won't happen).
There's the difference between modern high-tech lifestyle vs. third world or olden times. People lived for the moment, lived in real time. Didn't have energy to waste about thinking about "too late to change" or "what will I do if .....?"
When you are in the zone you are in the present moment. You are enjoying what is happening right now. You are living a real life.
That is what I think is wrong with the West and that way of thinking. Not that I have been able to escape it. Well I try to escape it when I can, for as long as I can, which usually not very long. I'd like to find mental exercises to help me live more for the present moment. Maybe meditation. Maybe yoga.
But after reading this whole topic, that is what I put my finger on. Live in the present!
I love how Tolstoy explores this in Anna Karenina. He contrasts how happy the peasants are, just living in the moment, with the aristocracy, who are always conniving and worrying about the future.
Many homeless people are homeless because they are mentally ill. And then pretty often they become addicts to escape from their depression and anxiety.
Actually I think they become mentally ill and/or desperate after becoming homeless. Read the book Evicted...it's a sad eye opener and just a tiny snapshot of things most people don't hear about.
I love how Tolstoy explores this in Anna Karenina. He contrasts how happy the peasants are, just living in the moment, with the aristocracy, who are always conniving and worrying about the future.
Thanks! I've been meaning to read some of the classics and your recommendation just made my "books to read" list!
But seriously, not living in the present moment is probably the most serious mental mistake all people make. And no, I haven't managed this degree of consciousness myself. I'm just close enough to realize how important it is.
I really do think that is the answer to this whole topic. If not that then at least it's the answer for me.
All my anxiety and depression is flowing from my future into my present, and filling me with stress. Fortunately for me these each have concrete reasons, and I can see my way to the solutions, and the solutions are going to work. There will be lots of grief for me, but I can even name the date that all these things will be gone! -- And I'm young enough to have plenty of non-anxiety, non-depressed life ahead when that day arrives. You see, all my problems are situational, and situations have a way of ending.
I believe we have more depression and anxiety today because our futures are much more unstable. It is much easier to live in the present when your future is stable.
There is much less stability today, like with jobs etc.....
If people in impoverished nations have better mental health...
That would involve assuming this is even accurate.
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and change our futures
