(WIP) On Being Content

22 May 2023dopamine relationships life people

This article is still a work in progress (WIP), but I haven't been good about posting consistently so I'm putting this one up and I'll fix it more later. It's just a brain dump. But if I never got to post anything else I would want my kids to read it. So shrug

So many people go through life always thinking the grass is greener on the other side. Always thinking about what it would be like to live someone elses life. A lot of people do that without also stopping to look at the great things they do have. So many people who have a family go and screw it up because they desired something that was not compatible with their life only to regret it. So many people who are single would kill to be in their situation. So many people would trade places with you and you may think you would trade places with them. Often times, we create our own demons. We create our own problems. So many of the things that make us upset and bother us and get us down are in our own heads. It's pretty unbelievable actually. Because it's this desire for more. That driving force that allowed us to survive for so many thousands of years. It's that dopamine pumping through our bodies telling us the grass is greener on the other side that makes us go for more. And that can be great. It's what leads to innovation and great scientific discovery. It has done so many great things for mankind. But we also need the ability to stop and look around at the here and now. Look at what you do have. There are people in this world who literally don't have 1/100th of what you have. Being poor in America is often being rich elsewhere in the world. Being rich in America can also be poor, maybe not monetarily, but spiritually. Some places in the world they are able to focus on more than just money. It's not about fancy vacations, big houses, and nice cars. It's about people. It's about enjoying the simple act of being alive. It's so much more than most of us could ever grasp. And I know, it can be hard, some people are clinically depressed and it's more than just being able to take a breath and stop and appreciate everything going on, but I do still think learning to appreciate all the little things that we take for granted would go a long way in improving this mental health crisis the developed world has found itself in. We are constantly chasing the next dopamine hit. We want the likes, we want to win that next video game match, we want to read that next tweet, we want to share all our photos because it makes us feel connected. We resent our friends on social media becuase they're happy. We get bent out of shape about nothing. When we often have everything. We have everything anyone could have ever wanted 100 years ago and so much more and somehow, we don't know how to be happy. Why? Why is that? It's a crazy paradox isn't it? And yet, there are people in third world countries with what we would consider nothing, and yet they feel like they have everything they could ever need. Because they know how to enjoy the act of living. They know how to enjoy life.

So take some deep breaths. Clear all the bullshit from your mind. And think about the fact that someone would literally kill to be in your position. To have a family. To have a home. To have a job. To have real friends. To have parents. To have siblings. To have children. To have grandparents. To have cousins. To have any car. To have food on the table. To live in a safe neighborhood. To be able to walk. To be able to see. To be able to hear. To be able to smell. To be able to laugh. To be able to feel. To be able to breathe.