Almost everyone I spend time with loves what they do
I feel like many people consider malaise or frustration the dominant mood of today’s world. Maybe that’s just the media because outrage gets page views and sells ads, not fulfillment or contentment.
Of the people I spend time with, nearly everyone loves what they do. As far as I can tell, they feel generally good. Not always, of course, but overall.
A lot of people complain a lot. Maybe they outnumber the people who don’t. The point of this post is that I choose whom I spend time with. I have limited time and resources and find the best way to live is to choose to spend time with people who find ways to enjoy life.
Some might say that’s a sign of some privileged position on my part, but they miss the point. While I was born into material prosperity relative to much of the world, I’m not talking about material well-being. Even if there is some threshold of material well-being you need for emotional well-being, considering only people above that threshold, their emotional health is in no way inevitable.
I find it takes effort to create emotional reward, happiness, and so on. I work at it, and I find it worth it. As best I can tell, so do most people I spend time with.
We all know about plenty of problems in the world and our lives that could bring us down.
Still, feeling bad doesn’t solve problems. If it causes lethargy, laziness, depression, and inaction, feeling bad can hurt our ability to solve those problems. Empathy and compassion of someone else feeling bad doesn’t have to make you feel bad.
Feeling capable helps you solve problems. It also feels better. It doesn’t mean you ignore problems, it means you don’t confuse the external world with your emotions.
Do people in your life bring you down? Is spending time with them worth it? Would spending more time with others improve your life? Or give them the awareness to improve their lives? Could you share different parts of yourself to motivate them to share parts of them you enjoy more?
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