Happiness is Here, Not There
THE STAYING POWER OF MEANING TO MEMORY
Happiness isn’t found in mental escape or cognitive dissonance. Numb people can’t feel.
Happiness is in the moment — what’s left is memory. Assign happy meaning to your memories to add longterm fulfillment to your life.
I was twenty-four years old, newly married, just finishing college and poorer than dirt. I went to pitch one of my own stupid ideas to an investment banker — a multi-millionaire who had achieved success many times over.
He listened intently as I went over my business plan, then he leaned back in his chair and told me that I reminded him a lot of himself back when he was in college.
Lost in nostalgia, he talked about how exciting and satisfying life had been in those days. Like me, he’d been active, happy, enthusiastic, and full of hope. Back then, he was living the lifestyle of his dreams.
He slowly shook his head, and with definite regret in his voice, told me that he had been working his entire adult life, all with the intent of someday getting back to the life he used to have when he was my age—the life my penniless, twenty-four-year-old self…
