Today I went to a gallery where I saw a painting from 200 years ago. In this painting, there are a lot of people having fun in the street. More importantly, most of them are adults playing together outside! By contrast, in modern-day society, play is supposed to be something for children to do. Also, modern English dictionaries generally indicate that play is something for children rather than adults. Indeed, most adults in modern society are busy with careers, housework, etc. People seem to be proud of how busy they are. But if you have a look at the average person’s lifespan and calculate how many weeks you probably have left, you will not want to postpone joy anymore.
- Brian’s international holiday:
My friend Brian is an entrepreneur. He started his own business 10 years ago and has been working extremely hard for one decade. In fact, he hasn’t had a holiday for 10 years.
“My dream is to make a lot of money and then retire. At that time, I will buy a boat and have a luxurious holiday,” says Brian, “Now I simply have to work hard.”
“I haven’t even had a drink with you for a very long time,” I ask him, “In fact, I’m going to have two weeks off soon and I’ll fly somewhere & rent a boat for a trip – Would you like to join me?”
Brian is a bit shocked because he has realized that I don’t postpone joy in my life – this is very different from his value system.
Three seconds later, he says to me, “Yes, I’ll join you. Actually, all work and no play makes me a dull man.”
It’s a beautiful international holiday with Brian and several other friends.
- How can we stop postponing happiness?
“When I get that promotion, I’ll be happy.”
“When I buy a house, I’ll be happy.”
“When I get a new car, I’ll be happy.”
“When I retire, I’ll be happy.”
“When I lose 20 kilos, I’ll be happy.”
“When I find a partner, I’ll be happy.”
People have so many reasons why they can’t be happy now.
When I was younger, I set a range of goals for myself, and I achieved them because I’m a very hardworking person. After achieving each goal, I immediately looked at the next goal.
I missed out on great opportunities to celebrate what I achieved and savor the happiness fully.
Now I’ve decided to celebrate life more often, so every year I have at least one international holiday which is full of joy and happiness.“Let’s stop postponing joy and start embracing happiness.”
“Let’s stop postponing joy and start embracing happiness.”
