happiness in The Knight

Dan'l Danehy-Oakes · 21 Feb 2005, 15:22 · from 2005-February.txt.gz

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From: danldo at gmail.com (Dan'l Danehy-Oakes)
Date: Mon Feb 21 15:22:14 2005
Subject: (urth) happiness in The Knight
In-Reply-To: <000d01c5180d$b8dd9ce0$4c1e4b0a at vcorp.ad.vrsn.com>
References: <20050216153402.3172.qmail at web54402.mail.yahoo.com>
	<42196C08.2070407 at gmail.com>
	<000d01c5180d$b8dd9ce0$4c1e4b0a at vcorp.ad.vrsn.com>
Message-ID: <1f76173705022115226eec7d8e at mail.gmail.com>

Well, the thing is, we seek what would make - no, make it singular:

I seek what would make me-as-I-am-now happy. 

But, by the time I achieve it, I will no longer be as-I-am-now.

This has consequences.

For example: I know that I would be happy if I took certain chemicals. 
But that would be me-as-I-would-be-if-I-took-them, and me-as-I-am-now 
would not be happy in the semi-mindless state those chemicals would 
induce, so I do not take them.

For another: If I seek what will make me-as-I-am-now happy, by the
time I achieve it, it will not make me happy.

The best hope for happiness, then, is one of two things:

1. To learn to predict what I will become, so that I can work to 
achieve what will make me at that time happy.

2. To learn to be happy with what I have to be happy with.

I find the latter more probable.

--Dan'l

-- 
"We're going to sit on Scorsese's head"
     -- The Goodfeathers

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