On the happiest people
Feb. 18th, 2026 10:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
posicScott D. Clary writes in Facebook -- https://www.facebook.com/scottdclarypage/posts/pfbid0LTkWhkf624P9Y1XYwNkFJN26aDDWeGn8pu9cE1cPFjN5hbGKm6FdQdAUCFFFAwqKl :
I've noticed that the happiest people I know aren't the most successful by conventional metrics. They've made peace with their definition of a good life and they're living inside it. That peace isn't passive. It's actively chosen and defended against a lot of cultural pressure to want more.
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Well, I am not one of "the happiest people". But yes, resisting the social/cultural pressure to want more is a good advice. It helped me a lot to become reasonably happy as I am now. And yes, it requires a considerable defensive effort.
One particular reason why my life satisfaction improved a lot in the recent years is that I've got a standard for comparison and the power to apply that standard. I had tried myself in various pursuits and seen which of them suit me and which don't. Thinking and writing about contraherent cosheaves makes me very happy. I do not like peer reviewing tasks, but at the end of the day I can tolerate them. Whatever is worse than that I plainly refuse to do, and exclude those things from my life. That has made my overall experience much better than it used to be.
I've noticed that the happiest people I know aren't the most successful by conventional metrics. They've made peace with their definition of a good life and they're living inside it. That peace isn't passive. It's actively chosen and defended against a lot of cultural pressure to want more.
***
Well, I am not one of "the happiest people". But yes, resisting the social/cultural pressure to want more is a good advice. It helped me a lot to become reasonably happy as I am now. And yes, it requires a considerable defensive effort.
One particular reason why my life satisfaction improved a lot in the recent years is that I've got a standard for comparison and the power to apply that standard. I had tried myself in various pursuits and seen which of them suit me and which don't. Thinking and writing about contraherent cosheaves makes me very happy. I do not like peer reviewing tasks, but at the end of the day I can tolerate them. Whatever is worse than that I plainly refuse to do, and exclude those things from my life. That has made my overall experience much better than it used to be.
