Happiness per command
For some happiness is a project. ‘I decide to be happy,’ they happily declare, the next job being convincing others that this is the case. Such strong resolve, you want to say, and then laugh a little…
§
Lady Justice here likes to be methodical in her approach. Together with the Emperor we’re here with a good team, officially speaking. But can happiness ever be subject to what we like to declare? On a daily basis I hear people making proclamations as to how we can ‘just decide’ to be happy. Really? How do we justify such a decision? We make this decision on what ground?
As there’s never any logic to these proclamations, the only thing left to the ones who like to question the idiocy in vogue is laughter and ridicule. If people are happy, à la the image in the Sun card, I dare say that they are happy, not because of their conscious decision to be happy, but rather, because the circumstance for happiness is present in their lives, unhindered and quite independent of what they choose.
You can’t choose to be happy any more than you can choose to fall in love. You can choose to be righteous, but the satisfaction that comes from having implemented an executive plan, for instance, to do right by the other you’re with, is not the same as happiness. While happiness may include satisfaction and contentment, it covers a much wider range which makes it difficult to control.
When happiness is bliss, it is not subject to choosing. You can’t say, ‘I decide to be blissful.’ I mean, you can, but then you’ll have trouble convincing the ones who will say to you in disbelief, ‘good luck with that.’
Why are so many eager to fall for the promise that you can actually choose to be happy? Not all actions lend themselves to choosing. Some actions are best served by waiting. With happiness is not like with inspiration: if you keep working, you’ll find your form. Nor is happiness like searching for the woman of your dreams, the one who can share her brilliance with you in the Garden of Eden. You can’t say, ‘I choose to find her,’ as it’s more likely that she will find you, if that is your fate.
Sometimes I get the strangest questions about happiness. I offer three examples of such readings on Substack for my paid subscribers. Have a look, if you want to know more.
*
