THE BROKEN PROMISE
The formula of happiness is a never-ending search.
We go through our experiences, trying to extract from them the principle that, once understood and applied, will finally allow life to become what we want it to be.
There are many paths.
Rituals. A set of actions of any kind. If we do them, things will work out. If we don't, they won't. Sometimes this works. Sometimes it doesn't. We try to understand why. We refine the ritual. We become more disciplined. We repeat it more consistently or for a longer time. Then, one day it all no longer works. We start looking for another path.
Strength. We are strong enough to do anything we want. This may be working for a long time. It inspires. It motivates. It pushes us beyond what once seemed possible. Then, one day, we break. There is no more strength left to conquer. Search for another path begins.
Hope. The undefinable. It will all work out. We often attach hope to a future moment or a specific event. When we finish this project. When we meet this person. When we move to another country. Sometimes we don't attach it to anything at all. We just hope. Hope moves our destination further and further away from us, without ever allowing us to arrive.
Time. One day. Next year. Next summer. Time will resolve it. Time will heal. Time will make sense of it. How often do we arrive at that moment only to discover that nothing has resolved itself? Nothing has healed. Nothing is still making sense. We start looking for another path.
Beauty and health. When we become beautiful enough, then everything will fall into place. Then we will finally feel confident. Then we will finally be loved. Or when we become healthy. When the body is healed. When we finally have energy. Health changes our lives in profound ways. Health alone does not guaranteed happiness. Beauty and health is a good foundation until we have it. It may easily be taken away one way or another.
Achievement. When we finish this assignment. When we complete a degree. When we receive another certification. When we become successful enough. Then everything will finally work out. If it doesn't, another project appears. Another degree. Another goal. Another achievement ahead.
Another person. One day we will meet someone who will resolve everything for us. Years pass. Sometimes that person never arrives. Sometimes they do to still make us feel we are not where we want to be. The search continues.
Deserving. We deserve to have anything we want. We are special. Everybody does and is. Why does not everybody have what they want? Deserving has never guaranteed reality.
The idol. Recognition. Professional success. Money. Status. Influence. We attach our happiness to something external. When we reach that, the happiness seem to be what we have. And then what happens when we loose the idol? Starting a new cycle all over to only loose it again?
Mystery and magic. Happiness is something that can be acquired through the mysterious and not fully understandable. A hidden force. A secret. An invisible law. Something beyond reason. The mind is trying to get happiness without a clear understanding how. If only we could figure it all out ... We follow this path relying on the mystery to take care of everything. And then one day it does not.
The everlasting search for a fix-it-all, whatever the name is.
All the methods are good until they become unstable and unreliable or until they completely crash. Are they even real or they are just traps to get out attention and distract us from something?
Imagine having tried them all, just to find ourselves not where we wanted to be …