The secret of happiness? Stop feeling bad about being unhappy | Tim Lott

To believe that we should all be striving for positivity all the time is to profoundly misunderstand the nature of human existence

I am going to come out of the closet, and make a shocking, even shameful, admission. I am not a happy person. In fact I am the sort of chap who complete strangers come up to in the street and advise to cheer up, since it might never happen.

I am not, I should emphasise, an unhappy person either. I love to laugh, and some of my novels have been admired as pretty good comedies. I think I am pretty much like most people, with moods that shift and transform. Sometimes I am happy, sometimes sad, most of the time I am pretty much neutral, with my mind elsewhere. Disappointment, fear and loss are as much a part of my life as achievement, hope and joy. It is all of a piece.

We can, it is suggested, find happiness through good works. This is also an ideology

There is plenty of unhappiness to go around. Why dwell on it? There’s no need, I agree

Continue reading...