Comment · Fri, September 4, 2015 · Ceretropic & Nootropics Depot
One is the deadliest number: the detrimental effects of social isolation on cerebrovascular diseases and cognition (2015)
What they were answering
Just4yourpost · 3 points
Sure thing. Let me know how that goes for you.
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb · Ceretropic & Nootropics Depot
Anything can look bad if you let it. Similarly, anything can be painted in a better light if you choose to.
The biggest thing I have learned over the years is that happiness is a choice. A difficult choice at times, but a choice nonetheless. You don't need a reason to be happy. You can be going through the worst time in your life, with absolutely no apparent upside, and still choose to be happy in spite of your surroundings. That was something I struggled with for a long time.
I always used to let what was going on in my life dictate how I felt. Good times were good, and bad times were bad. Pretty soon the good times were bad, and the bad times were full of emptiness. There was no happiness anymore, because I took my own choice out of the equation, and let life dictate how I felt. A bad situation was just that, bad. I did not see it as a challenge to overcome. I did not see the possibility of growing from it. I just felt bad about it. The only way I pulled myself out of depression was to change the way I thought about happiness. I divorced the concept of the situations I was in, and the feelings I felt.
So while you may choose to see that picture as discouraging, and an indication that even small amounts of good things will eventually lead to bad, I choose to see the good. I love watching storms roll in. So that lightning and those rain clouds looks like something fantastic to watch. That cliff looks like a challenge waiting to be conquered. The darkness beyond looks like an unknown waiting to be discovered. Life is a journey, and we choose the feelings we ascribe to it.