The sunrise in my city this morning was at 3:42 am and it will set tonight at 23:12 pm - That makes for quite a long day. It is a public holiday in Finland because this is the midsummer weekend, which means pretty much everyone is at a summer place getting drunk with friends and family. We are at home as it is too much hassle to try and arrange travel anywhere at the moment.
This is a picture at the lake shore nearby from a few years back. I am hoping that perhaps tonight or tomorrow the wind will die down a little and I can go out and take some more after 
So many things have been put on hold and so many other things brought into the fold over the last few years that have fundamentally changed our lives as a family, couple and individuals. Life is of course filled with change and change is what keeps life ticking along due to it forcing adaption, but sometimes even I look for the illusive sense of security - even though I know it doesn't exist.
I think the best I am able to potentially accomplish in terms of having security is being able to increase my skills and resources to be able to operate in insecurity, to have enough sense to change adequately when change is required. I get a feeling these days that while many people are unwilling to commit to decisions and others, they are also unwilling to change their habits if they feel comfortable in them. I think that "comfort" provides a false sense of security as it generally is accompanied by complacency and taking things for granted.
Have you ever thought about all the things you take for granted? I think it is pretty easy to do, just have a look at all the things you complain about, and then consider how incredible some of those things truly are once you change your perspective and look at the surrounding positives.
People complain a lot these days, something encouraged I believe. Unhappy people generally look for change and since most people can't do much themselves, they look to change through consumption and just like sad people often eat themselves into a cycle of ill-health and upward-ramping sadness, we have created a culture where the "solution" to discontentment is to purchase something better than what one has now. Retail therapy. Sometimes I wonder if single people spend more than couples on average not only because they aren't splitting costs, but that some of them are lonely and looking to fill a void.
I always find it strange when people believe that they are happy alone when 2 million years of human evolution has looked to drive social connection. We are hard-wired to need others, look for intimacy and spend our time sharing lives but in the last few decades, society, technology and marketing has looked to continually isolate us from others and many people believe that it is part of natural evolution. Perhaps it is, but our hard-wiring doesn't move so quickly. People who are happy alone yet complaining about life indicates they might want to review their position.
It seems that these days, very few people and especially those under my age are not depressed in some way emotionally, yet not everyone will admit it. Instead, they complain about parts of life not being good enough, that change is needed yet without actually having those skills, they pass off the process of change for others to control, their authorities.
In the workplace, people are generally the happiest when they feel that the work they do adds value and is important to the company and, they are able to have control over enough of their decisions. Sense of control is an important factor in human evolution as it gives us the feeling that we are the creators of our future and helps us adapt. When we do not feel that sense of control we are often unhappy and complaining.
Next time you are buying a product online, notice how you feel that you are making the decision to buy and ten, evaluate if what you are buying actually adds value to your life. For the most part, the things we consume are going to degrade in value as they are disposable and short-lived. Are you sure the decision to buy is yours? The latest must-have is rarely a must but we feel that we must have it still, we get fomo and when we feel we must, what control is there to do otherwise? And if we don't get what we feel we must have, we feel that we are missing out as we do not have the control to have it so, we get depressed.
I believe that part of the separation and breaking of ties that get driven through society in a multitude of ways are a deliberate process that empowers the few to have control over the many. When it is sunny, less people are inside, and when people are happy, they buy less to fill their sadness because while happy, they don't feel that drive to need more, they have enough.
It is only when people look at what they are missing that the fear sets in and the gaps urge to be filled. Then instead of understanding what is actually going on, we go to extremes to get what we want without the nuance and sensitivity to know what we actually need. More consumption. Binge eating our way through life in a process that separates us further, creates debt cycles and, depresses us as we can never consume enough.
Just one more buy to happiness.
And the 1% are content.
Taraz
[ a Steem original ]