i hate cleaning. i hate doing laundry. i hate organizing.
i love clean environments. i love clean clothes. i love feeling organized.
as i was cleaning, doing laundry and organizing my life today, i realized that while i didn’t enjoy what i was doing and it took some self-pushing to put the computer away and get the clothes in the washer, i felt increasingly happy with each step toward completing the task at hand. i also felt happy for getting done, in a focused and consistent manner, tasks i don’t enjoy and usually put off as long as possible.
this perceived happiness is deceiving. it’s like going to work every day and hating the actual work that you do but doing it because of the outcome (money, fame, whatever). it’s living life for the wrong reasons, not knowing what to pursue, and not trying new things to determine what you do and do not enjoy. this is not to say we should irresponsibly avoid tasks we don’t enjoy doing (ie cleaning, laundry, organizing); rather, we should pursue our dreams and that which we love. the money (and ability to outsource that tasks we hate doing) will come later.
i’ve recounted in an abstract way how I live remarkably and I’ve shared a deeply personal story relating to how I live a happy life but what happiness really boils down to is doing what you love – in work and in life. finding a career you love, a partner who makes you feel complete, friends who positively influence you and hobbies that inspire you. i’d estimate that I enjoy about 90% of my daily activities. i gander this is why I’m so damn happy and cheerful all the time.
so in short, happiness = doing what you love. this seems like a simple and obvious statement, right? why aren’t more people doing it?
I say take it one step further, find out what you love….realize it is a system that can be replicated and get it off your plate.
I recommend reading “Work the System” by Sam Carpenter to learn more about how life is a series of systems/components and once you crack that and isolate down to the 1.2.3 steps that go into completing each system life becomes easier.
1st. Organize Clothes
2nd. Separate Whites and Colors
3rd. Pack them into bags
4th. Get Soap..
etc
Get it?
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I prefer to find tranquility in a career or a state between happiness and sad. Doing what I love doesn’t necessarily make me happy; it’s just a way to kill time until happiness arrives. I doubt people who write multi-platinum sappy pop songs or paint the Sistine Chapel are 70% happy, since such activities would require 90% of their time and you can not possibly be happy writing sad songs or spending 4 years painting a ceiling for a crazy old Pope.
For me, finding happiness in a job/career is like finding happiness in a toy when I was a kid. The excitement wears off. All my jobs dealt with a personal interest. Working at an electronic store as a teen, landing a design internship in college, or becoming a film extra were things I pursued because I loved gadgets, art, and movies. I thought I was happy, but then I got bored with ABBA questions, or wearing corporate attire for an unpaid internship, or watching Joker smoke cigarettes. Happiness is an anomaly for me.
Happiness is squeezing my Siberian husky’s face cheeks, tapping his black nose, and my manly voice uncharacteristically saying out loud: “you’re so cute and cuddly!” Happiness is being teased by that girl in college because she saw you gazing at her at a party. Happiness is waking up every morning for 3 months trying to figure out what to say to that one blond, so she would smile. It’s happiness because it’ll make you sad one day. Old dogs go to heaven in time, college semester ends, and once your cleverness makes someone smile, your stupidity will make them cry.
I don’t remember my past jobs, current career, or hobbies make me sad. If it’s not powerful enough to make me sad, then I it’s not real happiness.