“It is quite impossible to unite happiness with a yearning for what we don't have. Happiness has all that it wants, and resembling the well-fed, there shouldn't be hunger or thirst.”
- Epictetus, Discourses, 3.24.17
February 17, 2021 7:00 AM
If only I lost weight, my life would be better. If I earned a larger salary, I would be happy with life. Today I learned there is a term for this type of thinking. Psychologists call this "conditional happiness."
Conclusion
It never occurred to me that this type of thinking affects our chances for happiness at the moment. Yearning for something to come, we lose sight of anything that may provide us enjoyment now. Our choice is to put energy towards happiness that may never occur or be happy now with what we have now.