The Seven Keys to Happiness

Christiann Stout
The Pillars
Published in
7 min readDec 7, 2022

--

A Formula to Sanity and Personal Power

Photo by Matthew Henry on Unsplash

Stop punishing yourself for wanting things.

You want a new phone. You want a big house. You want a new partner. And you tell yourself you deserve these things, but that you don’t need these things.

So, you feel like a selfish, materialistic asshat.

Need-Want Confusion is why you feel like crap.

What if I told you that what you want is what you need — and ignoring wants is the reason you are miserable? I’d be contradicting every don’t be selfish principle on the planet.

Good. ’Cause I’m sick of that bullshit, too.

So, you can stay and chat or swipe past this article so you can read some not-quite-porn or dating crap. Or some sappy soup-for-the-soul story. Or bitcoin or social media strategies. Or career advice. Go ahead. Waste another day of your life putting a bandaid over a hemorrhage. Because this series of articles is going to get nasty, ask you to dig deep, and be unapologetic. There’s your trigger warning, snowflake.

Still here? Okay, then.

Make a list of everything you want. Don’t self-edit. Write it all down. Your list may include: More followers. More likes on your posts. That newest phone. That perfect partner. Those fake eyelashes. Conquering…

--

--

Christiann Stout
The Pillars

Catholic author, professor, photography, and (recovering!) attorney. Faith, Focus, and Finding Your Light: A Life in Progress.