After years of directly and indirectly thinking about it, I’ve stumbled on the secret of happiness. What kicked it into focus was this article in the New York Times. The basic premise: keep busy. The opening line is exactly at odds with what Jay Jay Pistolet (who I finally saw in person last week!) says when he sang ‘Let your mind wander where it wants to go.’ - in fact, don’t let your mind wander.
There must be a balance, of course, between sending your brain around the bend with thoughts and living life in a dumb stupor of ignorance. I don’t think the article is advocating ignorance though - it is, after all, written in the New York Times. If problems arise you will think of solutions, and you can have focussed intelligent debate by keeping it focussed and practical. But just sitting around aimlessly thinking more often leads to worry and exaggerated negativity than anything else.
You don’t even have to be doing anything particularly exciting. This article I read a while ago chimes perfectly with the NYT’s heartening conclusion. Finally, a scientific study that implies great well-being benefits for my upcoming career as a commercial lawyer…
And it fits! The times in my life I’ve been too busy to have time to think have been the happiest. So you can still do exactly what you want to do - ‘Eureka’ moments and philosophical book reading included - but always stay focussed. As Dr Johnson is quoted in the above, ‘Life is not long, and too much of it must not pass in idle deliberation of how it should be spent.’
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