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• A comment on Conversation: Can we really become happier? Happier ourselves? Can we create happier places to work? Or even happier societies?

  Jan 11 2012: [Continuing from my first post]
  
  So if it's possible to be happy in almost any profession, then does it even matter what you for a career? Yes, actually, it does matter, but not in the way exactly in the way of "passions."
  
  Here's what I mean: My generation has been extremely lucky. Many more of us have been able to attend college than previous generations, and we've been able to open up many more life opportunities because of that. Our parents and our peers were excited to see this happening -- and rightly so. Education is invaluable and our society is only just beginning to see the fruits of so many educated young people. Even with sky-high tuitions, American universities are overflowing with students. But along with this excitement has come a message to college graduates: "Find what your passionate about, and do that for a living." After all, why not? You went to college, you got study whatever you wanted to, so don't work at McDonald's. Instead, work at a "job that you love."
  
  There's only one problem with this message: It's wrong. Because if people can be happy in many different professions, ranging from janitor to rockstar, then the idea of doing what your "passionate" about for a living makes no sense. Try asking a garbage man if he's passionate about garbage. He probably isn't. But there's no question that there are some -- possibly many -- garbage men out there who are happy with their lives. So what we can make of this?
  
  I used to think that your career path should be led by your passions. The problem is, your passions change. They change with age, with experience, with the wind... So where does that leave us? What should you do for a living? The answer is simple, and it's always been there: you should do what you're GOOD at. First, find a type of work thatyou're good at -- better than anybody else. Then, and only then, do you begin to bring your passions and interests into it.
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  A comment on Conversation: Can we really become happier? Happier ourselves? Can we create happier places to work? Or even happier societies?

  Jan 11 2012: One tool for overall happiness is meditation.
  
  Now, one of the first things you learn from meditation is that it's possible to be happy while doing "nothing." At least as far as the outside world sees it, just sitting there and focusing on your breath is basically "doing nothing." The feeling of meditation is something I'm not sure I can explain to you unless you've meditated before. But I suppose it's similar to any experience you've had where you were just sitting there, and where you felt absolutely content in that moment; maybe while watching a sunset, or sitting on your porch. It's in these moments that you are simply "there," just existing, with no thoughts (or worries or desires) about the past or the future.
  
  In many of my meditation sessions, there were many moments where I could say I felt truly happy -- just sitting there. This was not an entirely new concept to me, but in a society so obsessed with "doing" and "working" and "accomplishing" and "succeeding," it's easy to forget that it's possible to be happy, right now -- before you've "accomplished" anything. And jumping off of this idea, I couldn't help wondering: if it's possible to be happy doing something so seemingly mundane as just sitting there, then maybe it's possible to be happy doing almost anything in life, no matter how "exciting" or how "boring" it is.
  
  And so I couldn't help seeing the work and careers that we do through this lens as well. I observed that there are happy and unhappy people in any profession. There are friendly waiters and grumpy ones. There are kind policemen and cruel ones. There are rockstars who abound with happiness and others who kill themselves. And there are rich corporate CEO's who are miserable in their greed and others who find peace in their wealth. All of this can occur because your mental state -- and specifically your ability to "live in the moment" -- creates happiness, not the things you "do" for a living.