How to Feel Better Right Now
Daily Chase #46
We spend much of our lives focused on three categories:
What we want and have (creating happiness)
What we want but don't have (creating dissatisfaction)
What we don't want but have (creating frustration)
Meanwhile, we completely overlook perhaps the fourth, largest category of all:
What we don't want and don't have
Consider this:
You don't have cancer.
You don't have crushing debt.
You don't face war at your doorstep.
You don't lack clean water.
You don't experience chronic pain.
The list of misfortunes you've been spared is virtually endless.
This perspective shift is powerful because our attention shapes our reality. What we focus on literally creates the world we perceive.
By redirecting our focus to appreciate what difficulties we've been spared, we access an infinite well of gratitude.
We're naturally wired against this kind of thinking.
Our brains have a negativity bias (focusing on threats), present bias (prioritizing immediate rewards), and tendency toward social comparison (looking at what others have that we don't).
We also quickly adapt to improvements (hedonic adaptation) – remember that just three generations ago, indoor plumbing was a luxury!
This isn't merely a woo-woo gratitude exercise.
It's about consciously writing the script for your existence. When you own your attention and direct it toward the abundance of suffering you've been spared rather than the possessions you lack, you fundamentally alter your perspective.
The next time you find yourself obsessing over something you want but don't have, take a moment to consider the vastness of what you don't want and fortunately don't have – it might reveal that you're already far happier than you realize.
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