Why Not? The Myth of Perpetual Happiness
The only difference between success and failure, happiness and depression is perception. Perception paints our lives in colors of our choosing, perception lies in the heart of every action and most importantly, perception is what molds us to be who we are and how we show ourselves to the world.
Perception is defined
Put a glass of water in front of you but only fill it half way. Is the glass half full or half empty? I figure the odds of somebody saying either statement is the same as a coin toss. This is a classic case of how the same thing is uniquely perceived in two different ways, based on the background, knowledge and experiences of an individual. What I find even more interesting is that those who may perceive the glass to be half empty may see this in a positive light while another person negative. In the end, it doesn’t matter how you define things, it only matters how you perceive things.
What does perception got to do with me?
Both everything and nothing. Take into consideration that EVERYTHING you see, smell or taste goes straight into brain the same way as everybody else but the interpretation is uniquely yours. What might smell great to you might make another person nauseas. Taken a little further, your entire character, lifestyle or predicament in life is heavily influenced by your own perception of the situation. That 9-5 job you toil away on a daily basis, this may be your greatest source of success or dread in life, depending on your perception but also the perceptions of those around you. Perception you see, can be influenced rather easily by others around you if you are weak of mind. Marketing is a classic example of what can happen, you never had a need then you see an ad a few times, by the end the day, deep inside, you feel left out if you don’t purchase xyz item.
Ambiguity of Perceptions
I hope that you can now see how un-black-and-white the whole idea of perception is, now tack onto this the fact that we spend our entire lives pushed and pulled by perception. What is reality but a host of perceptions characterized by the environment we live in, the people we socialize with and our own internal feelings. We tend to see perception in a very limited way while actually, it defines our ENTIRE LIVES. If you saw The Matrix (movie), everything that “sleeping” people see is based off computer algorithms, well, perception is the same way except that it’s completely self-defined. Perception is so self-defined in fact, that separating thoughts from perception is just about impossible.
Perpetual Happiness?
Evolutionarily speaking, mother nature doesn’t care if we are happy or not, only that we reproduce “thrive” in the environment we find ourselves in. Sometimes those who are the most depressed have the most children, their only source of joy is having offspring while sometimes the opposite holds true. What I am trying to say is that no matter what you do or, more importantly, perceive things to be, nobody cares, not even mother nature. We all have ulterior motives behind each action we do, sometimes they are pure altruism while other times the cost doesn’t come to bear until time has elapsed a little more.
Quick Summary
Now that we have undefined perception and happiness, we can delve into why people DON’T do things. You see, not doing things is easy, doing them is hard as it is a predicator of additional work having to be done. For instance, your brain perceives that in three months you will not be able to pay the mortgage. There are two courses of action, one is to be depressed and do nothing while the other is to actively find a solution before the deadline hits. Doing nothing is easy but it will hit you with a tonne of bricks a few months from now, doing something beyond buying lottery tickets, is hard, as it may mean you put your house for sale, get a new job or make additional sacrifices.
I hope that you have come to the realization that your internal feelings are simply a perception as well. If you are sad, it’s because you perceive yourself as so while if you are happy, again, perception is defining this for you as well. As such, you can always modify your perception at a drop of a hat to be what you find most efficient in any particular case. Sometimes being depressed is a good thing, other times, detrimental… but this is always under YOUR control.
Why Not?
Alright, I hope the above has sunk in at least a little because now we deal with the question I ask myself before I do anything kinda crazy… Why Not? This is a very dangerous question as it can lead to spectacular changes in your life which don’t always work out the way you want. You see, the onus is on why NOT to do something which indirectly states you have already made a decision to DO something and are trying to talk yourself out of it. The way most people lead their lives, they try to convince themselves why to do something as indirectly, they have made a decision not to do it. I hope this makes sense. The next time you have a major decision, ask your self… Why Not?
The Bottom Line
Why not do something drastic today? 
Being the eldest child, I find it interesting that a study by the Norway National Institute of Occupational Health along with the Norwegian Armed Forces Medical Services have reached a conclusion that I knew all along. First born children have a higher IQ then their siblings 
Talk about going to extremes, some parents are hiring personal trainers and nutritionists so their children can get into shape!
I find it ironic that people in the “modern, industrialized world” are dying from overconsumption of food while in Africa, they are dying from underconsumption. We are suffering from exponential obesity, diabetes and cardio-vascular conditions (from not being active enough) rates in our populations while in Africa, the biggest problem malnutrition, HIV Disease and catabolizing (from being too active). We worry about deserts while they simply want to eat something.
