Dealing with Discontent - Take a vacation.

This is my second blog on the topic of “Dealing with Discontentment”.

I will start off with a quote. “If you want to untie a knot, you must know how you tied it in the first place”. The question that arises is how does one end up being so discontent in the first place?

One thing that becomes a bit more obvious as I think about this is that I have at many times made choices and never bothered to check if they were making me happy. The first choice makes me mildly unhappy. The second one makes is a bit worse and so on. It becomes increasingly obvious that one’s discontent is in a large part a consequence of not making the choices that could have made a difference. In general, we tend to ignore things till they become very big. The problem is that the cost of change is now much higher than it would have been a few years ago. The cost complication makes you persist with bad choices even when it is so obvious that this is a price that has to be paid if you ever want to be happy. The knot is most likely tied when one refuses to make the choices required to achieve happiness.

If you are indeed so unhappy with your job the obvious solution is to make some changes. How can you ever expect to be happy if you do not change? Often I find myself thinking that some miracle will happen and I will somehow find a way to be happy. Regrettably that has not happened to date. I’m wondering if it ever will.

The miracle is actually too easy to actualize. All one needs to do is to stop being complacent and initiate some change in his/her job. Most discontent people will agree that just about any change would make a difference. Most people don’t make any. I have not. It is almost as if one has a compulsive need to be miserable. Is it possible that people who feel miserable will make choices that only compound their misery?

There is a school of thought amongst people who think and reason out why societies and cultures are the way they are that tries to establish similarities between “genes” and how they ensure their own survival and thoughts (also called memes) and how these ensure their own survival. It has been postulated that thoughts that fit in with others that already exist in your mind are more likely to “survive” and find acceptability than the ones that do not fit in. One suggestion that is offered to people who are unhappy with their jobs is to go on vacation. Many people have found that taking a break helps to “clear” their mind enabling them to make the choices that result in increased satisfaction. It is possible that vacations or breaks replace “ideas” and “thoughts” in the mind with others resulting in some choices which were not “suitable” while on the job more acceptable to the mind.

Is it possible that miserable people are a victim of neuro-chemical crap that prevents them from making the changes required? Maybe your mind is super saturated with “misery” chemicals which dilute anything that could results in “satisfaction”.

Is it possible that “discontent” people can find themselves more likely to make the changes required to find “satisfaction” if they take a break from their “jobs”? Is all you need a vacation? Are you perpetuating your discontent by not creating a situation where meaningful changes become acceptable to you?