" The happiness of your lives depends upon the quality of your thoughts. " ( Marcus Aurelius ) It is one of my favorite quotes because it speaks to my own philosophy. I'm thinking that became so because of all this " quality of life " stuff I hear all the time. Really it is a phrase that rather annoys me to be honest about it. Every time something doesn't go your way or isn't to your liking, it is effecting your quality of life. I would paraphrase Marcus Aurelius by saying, the quality of your life is dependent upon the quality of your thoughts! To put it in a more colloquial way, junk in = junk out. You control what goes in, thereby controlling what comes out.
Your happiness depends upon the quality of your thoughts. That is the observation of Marcus Aurelius. That is because happiness and quality are synonymous. I mean, is being happy ever a bad thing? It is the source of that happiness that determines its' quality. Just as the quality of water depends upon its' source. What we seek is permanence. Ah, but happiness is a fleeting thing you say: It is, when your happiness is dependent upon external things. That is what Marcus was talking about. Today that is exactly what is being promoted with all that " quality of life " rhetoric we are bombarded with daily. Buy this product and improve your quality of life! Isn't that the pitch? Listen closely to what is being said. Think about that for a moment. I hear that pitch all the time in almost every situation. Whether the product is a magic pill or a power scooter to give you freedom to roam, it's all about the quality of your life. No, that's about getting things. That is what you need to understand about all of that. It is not happiness, it's about getting stuff to distract you. Stuff only provides temporary happiness. Look at a child. An empty cardboard box can provide hours of happiness. Why is that? Because of the quality of their thoughts. What we call imagination. And what is imagination? Possibilities is the answer I would provide. Is the child's quality of life negatively impacted when the box is gone? No, and happy memories remain from playing with that box. Things is, the box is not important to the child at all. The box was just an object of their imagination. A tangible piece of imagination, but imagined just the same. As our minds mature the objects should become less essential to our imagination. Less essential to our thoughts. The complexity of human nature should be enough to entertain us.
I think a great deal of this is just incidental to modern living. When I was young I had less stuff to distract me. I'm not thinking about toys and that sort of thing I had plenty of those, I'm thinking about the insistence I needed this or that to be happy. To a great extent, I had to entertain myself. I didn't live in a populated neighborhood and there was no playground and playdates for me. It wasn't until I was older that those things became available. I learned to enjoy a good book on a rainy day and to admire natures wonders when the sun was shining. I ran in the woods behind my home and had all types of adventures. I was alone, yet traveled with my heroes. There were no cell phones, no portable entertainment. No, entertainment was whatever you could provide yourself. My happiness was dependent upon the quality of my thoughts.
In this modern world the problem becomes, you can't market thoughts. Those are free! That's why we talk about the quality of life. That's something we can market and profit from. Advertisers have been doing that forever. It is just that we can reach a much larger audience so much faster today. We even have government agencies pushing this agenda. Social programs they call them. There purpose is to improve the quality of your life. Really they just provide stuff for free. That's because everyone should have everything they want. If your neighbor has it, you are entitled to it also. That's quality of life! It is also of benefit to keep the populace distracted. By distracting the populace those in power can enrich themselves and pursue their interests unmolested. It's good for business. We can even sell you a product to make you happy! No need to have quality thoughts of your own, we will provide that, for a price.
The world is generally an unhappy place today. I'd call it the age of discontent. So many complaining about stuff we can't control. We have decided we are either victims or survivors. That speaks volumes about the thoughts of the nation as a whole. Who are paid the highest? Entertainers. Whether they are singers, actors, or athletes makes little difference, they provide a distraction and for that are generously paid, some even revered. Look closely at the entertainment being provided, in general I would say it has devolved. Entertainment today is not about happiness, it is about the more visceral aspects of life. Entertainment is political. Entertainment did provide us with quality thoughts, I don't see that happening much today.
Your happiness depends upon the quality of your thoughts. That is the observation of Marcus Aurelius. That is because happiness and quality are synonymous. I mean, is being happy ever a bad thing? It is the source of that happiness that determines its' quality. Just as the quality of water depends upon its' source. What we seek is permanence. Ah, but happiness is a fleeting thing you say: It is, when your happiness is dependent upon external things. That is what Marcus was talking about. Today that is exactly what is being promoted with all that " quality of life " rhetoric we are bombarded with daily. Buy this product and improve your quality of life! Isn't that the pitch? Listen closely to what is being said. Think about that for a moment. I hear that pitch all the time in almost every situation. Whether the product is a magic pill or a power scooter to give you freedom to roam, it's all about the quality of your life. No, that's about getting things. That is what you need to understand about all of that. It is not happiness, it's about getting stuff to distract you. Stuff only provides temporary happiness. Look at a child. An empty cardboard box can provide hours of happiness. Why is that? Because of the quality of their thoughts. What we call imagination. And what is imagination? Possibilities is the answer I would provide. Is the child's quality of life negatively impacted when the box is gone? No, and happy memories remain from playing with that box. Things is, the box is not important to the child at all. The box was just an object of their imagination. A tangible piece of imagination, but imagined just the same. As our minds mature the objects should become less essential to our imagination. Less essential to our thoughts. The complexity of human nature should be enough to entertain us.
I think a great deal of this is just incidental to modern living. When I was young I had less stuff to distract me. I'm not thinking about toys and that sort of thing I had plenty of those, I'm thinking about the insistence I needed this or that to be happy. To a great extent, I had to entertain myself. I didn't live in a populated neighborhood and there was no playground and playdates for me. It wasn't until I was older that those things became available. I learned to enjoy a good book on a rainy day and to admire natures wonders when the sun was shining. I ran in the woods behind my home and had all types of adventures. I was alone, yet traveled with my heroes. There were no cell phones, no portable entertainment. No, entertainment was whatever you could provide yourself. My happiness was dependent upon the quality of my thoughts.
In this modern world the problem becomes, you can't market thoughts. Those are free! That's why we talk about the quality of life. That's something we can market and profit from. Advertisers have been doing that forever. It is just that we can reach a much larger audience so much faster today. We even have government agencies pushing this agenda. Social programs they call them. There purpose is to improve the quality of your life. Really they just provide stuff for free. That's because everyone should have everything they want. If your neighbor has it, you are entitled to it also. That's quality of life! It is also of benefit to keep the populace distracted. By distracting the populace those in power can enrich themselves and pursue their interests unmolested. It's good for business. We can even sell you a product to make you happy! No need to have quality thoughts of your own, we will provide that, for a price.
The world is generally an unhappy place today. I'd call it the age of discontent. So many complaining about stuff we can't control. We have decided we are either victims or survivors. That speaks volumes about the thoughts of the nation as a whole. Who are paid the highest? Entertainers. Whether they are singers, actors, or athletes makes little difference, they provide a distraction and for that are generously paid, some even revered. Look closely at the entertainment being provided, in general I would say it has devolved. Entertainment today is not about happiness, it is about the more visceral aspects of life. Entertainment is political. Entertainment did provide us with quality thoughts, I don't see that happening much today.
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