Happiness is not a fish that you can catch
“Ask yourself if you’re happy, and you cease to be so,” says Darrin McMahon, PhD, author of Happiness: A History.
This seems to be the case for me.

I won't go over all the barriers to happiness but I will mention a couple that are my achilles' heel.

1. Barrier to happiness: Despair.
Solution: Stay hopeful.
The plan: Have goals, as well as, a plan and the motivation to achieve them.

This I'm horrible at. I have no plan, no goals and as such, no motivation.

2. Barrier to happiness: Navel-gazing.
Solution: Connect with others.
The plan: Participate in social networks. It turns out that happiness can spread through these networks, like a virus.

I spend all my time in my head and away from others. This is something that needs to change. I've been like this my entire life since I grew up fairly isolated on a farm and probably explains while depression has followed me around my entire life just like Churchill's "Black Dog". Compassion and caring for others is supposed to be the antidote for this. I try, but I need to make a better effort at this. “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion; if you want to be happy, practice compassion.” Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama

That said, contrary to many people's resolutions concerning livejournal, I am not going to pledge to post more but I am actually pledging to post less. In fact, not at all for quite some time. I sometimes post about other things but far too often my journal turns to angsty, depression riddled, navel-gazing. No more.

So.
Bye for now. See you on the other side.