We’ve been changing our minds about “living large“ and recognizing it’s very appropriate.
One often-overlooked aspect – and a great one – of living large is simply being happy. Now.
Many people want to be happier, but surprisingly few stop to examine the path they have chosen to get there.
Ask someone what would make them happy, and the answers often sound like future achievements:
- A promotion.
- More money.
- A bigger house.
- Losing weight.
- Finding the perfect relationship.
- Retiring early.
- Finally reaching a long-awaited goal.
None of these are bad aspirations. Goals can provide direction, purpose, and motivation.
The problem arises when happiness becomes permanently attached to conditions that have not yet been met.
When that happens, happiness moves from being a companion on the journey to a prize waiting at the finish line.
And that can be a very hard path.
Many people spend years postponing happiness until circumstances improve. They tell themselves:
“I’ll be happy when…”
The difficulty is that the finish line keeps moving.
The promotion arrives, and a bigger promotion appears on the horizon.
The house is purchased, and a nicer neighborhood becomes appealing.
The relationship begins, and new expectations emerge.
The goal is achieved, and a larger goal replaces it.
The human mind is remarkably adaptable. What once seemed extraordinary eventually feels normal. This process of adaptation is one reason why external achievements often produce only temporary increases in happiness.
If your happiness depends primarily on future outcomes, you may spend much of your life waiting for permission to enjoy it.
There is an alternative path.
Instead of making happiness the reward for success, make it part of the process.
Enjoy the challenge of learning.
Take satisfaction in steady progress.
Appreciate small victories.
Celebrate effort as well as outcomes.
Find pleasure in growth itself.
People who adopt this approach are not less ambitious. In many cases, they are more ambitious because they are not emotionally starving while pursuing their goals. They are fueled by appreciation rather than deprivation.
This distinction matters.
When happiness is always deferred, achievement can begin to feel like survival. Every setback becomes emotionally costly because it delays access to the happiness you believe is waiting ahead.
But when happiness is woven into daily living, setbacks become easier to navigate. Progress remains meaningful, but your well-being is not entirely dependent upon it.
Consider two climbers ascending the same mountain.
One believes happiness exists only at the summit.
The other enjoys the views, the challenge, the learning, and the company along the way.
Both may reach the top.
Only one gets to enjoy the entire climb.
Perhaps the most important question is not whether your goals are worthwhile.
The more important question is this:
Are you choosing a path to happiness that requires too many conditions to be met first?
If so, you may be making happiness unnecessarily difficult.
Life will always contain challenges. There will always be another mountain to climb, another problem to solve, and another goal to pursue.
The people who seem happiest are often not those with the fewest problems.
They are the ones who learned how to experience moments of happiness before everything was perfect.
Maybe happiness is not something waiting for you at the end of the road.
Maybe it is something available along the way.
Aspire.
Come Upwards with Us™
